<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:1507FF804F5A48C09B7E5C5155D69026@jill"
type="cite">
<blockquote type="cite" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">James Wynn-<br>
1) The valet was a male chem.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Gerry Quinn-<br>
I mixed up Bittersweet's porter and Fulmar's valet, but that
doesn't really matter.
"Bittersweet had promised to show everyone the wonders she had
achieved with an old porter... Incus had wanted to see that" (He
wanted to check out the valet too.)
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
The valet had been altered by Incus. Thus, "satisfaction" at asking
how long since he had received his wages. Therefore, having already
seen the chem and knowing full well what the results were, seeing
him again was just a side issue, as Incus said. And the chem that
Bittersweet would use was a male too.<br>
"He had wanted very much to see the old porter with _his_ skullplate
and faceplate removed."<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:1507FF804F5A48C09B7E5C5155D69026@jill"
type="cite">
In his letter he writes "I have been looking forward to a
firsthand account from our mutual acquaintance Bee. Bee himself."
My understanding was that he was trying to be discreet in case the
letter was intercepted.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Well, Incus was trying to be discreet, but not about that. The
message that the patera is attempting to convey must have been
attempted in both letters. That the letter might be intercepted was
a concern, but the frustration of getting dense Fulmar to understand
something he didn't know was the primary concern.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:1507FF804F5A48C09B7E5C5155D69026@jill"
type="cite">
<blockquote type="cite" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">James Wynn-<br>
2) Remember that this is the <b class="moz-txt-star"><span
class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>second<span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b>
attempt at a letter. I don't think there's any way the first
could be interpreted as relating to the valet or the experiment.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
But how does the first version help your case?
(By the way, this is just a quibble about one of your reasons why
Incus might be a woman; it doesn't apply to the rest.)
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
The first letter emphasizes "a woman" and "myself". This is an
intentional clue as Incus thinks to herself after writing it:<br>
"<span class="moz-txt-underscore"><span class="moz-txt-tag">_</span>Myself<span
class="moz-txt-tag">_</span></span> standing for <span
class="moz-txt-underscore"><span class="moz-txt-tag">_</span>I<span
class="moz-txt-tag">_</span></span>, as even that fool Fulmar
could not help but understand."<br>
<br>
So the message is "I, a woman". <br>
<br>
Wolfe emphasizes this for the reader later when Incus thinks, "_he
Incus_, would at least have the satisfaction of..."<br>
<br>
u+16b9<br>
</body>
</html>