(urth) Is Agia a Robot?

[Ryan Dunn]

"M-m-master, when I was on the Quasar I had a paracoita, a doll, you see, a genicon, so beautiful with her great pupils as dark as wells, her i- irises purple like asters or pansies blooming in summer, Master, whole beds of them, I thought, had b-been gathered to make those eyes, that flesh that always felt sun-warmed. Wh-wh-where is she now, my own scopolagna, my poppet? Let h-h-hooks be buried in the hands that took her! Crush them, Master, beneath stones. Where has she gone from the lemon-wood box I made for her, where she never slept at all, for she lay with me all night, not in the box, the lemon-wood box where she waited all day, watch-and-watch, Master, smiling when I laid her in so she might smile when I drew her out. How soft her hands were, her little hands. Like d-d-doves. She might have flown with them about the cabin had she not chosen instead to lie with me."

(Hethor's rant in SotT, Chap. 30, Night)

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And it is verified this poppet may be Agia, in the following passages....

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"Do you see rings or earrings? A silver lamia twined about my neck? Are my arms constricted with circlets of gold? If not, you may safely assume I have no officer of the Household Troops for my paramour. There's an old sailor, ugly and poor, who presses me to live with him."

(Agia to Severian in SotT, Chap. 19, Botanic Gardens)

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"Everything you suspect is true - is that enough? I will be dead tomorrow, and shewill wed the old man who dotes on her, or someone else. I wanted her to do it sooner."

(Agilus on Agia in SotT, Chap. XX, Agilus)

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"...you were trying to kill me before Saltus."

"With the avern. Yes, of course."

"And afterward. Agia, I know who Hethor is."

I waited for her to reply, but she said nothing.

"On the day we met, you told me there was an old sailor who wanted you to live with him. Old and ugly and poor, you called him, and I could not understand why you, a lovely young woman, should even consider his offer when you were not actually starving. You had your twin to protect you, and a little money coming in from the shop."

It was my turn to be surprised. She said, "I should have gone to him and mastered him. I have mastered him now."

(Severian and Agia in SotL, Chap. 15, He Is Ahead of You!)

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...ryan



On Jun 18, 2010, at 10:36 AM, brunians at brunians.org wrote:

> It's one of Hethor's rants, where he goes on and on about his paracoita.