Per the discussion over in General/General...
River drifted in a slow orbit around the examination table as Simon swore softly under his breath and suppressed the urge to pound the readouts in front of him."Lost," River crooned, not quite looking at the man on the table. "Lost, lost, and lonely..."Mal ignored her. "Well, Doctor?" he demanded."I don't know," Simon growled. "The instruments are..." He shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it. Sometimes I get good readings, the rest of the time -- it's either meaningless, or it's nothing at all. It's like he's not quite there.""The walker in shadows," River suddenly hissed, dropping into acrouch at the foot of the table. "He misses her strength and hersong.""I think we all know who's not quite there," Jayne growled."Shut it, Jayne," Mal snapped.-------The girl crept up close to me and stared intently into my eyes. "You have a hole in your mind," she declared flatly."Do I?" I asked, curious about this girl with the strange,damaged aura."He ain't the only one," my grumpy guard announced, then went back to his gun.She ignored him, instead nodding slowly at me. "The peaceful princess put it there. It was an accident, but you won't be able to fix it until the time is right. The lunar mariner didn't mean to do it, but that's what the stone did." She tilted her head to one side, then leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially, "The princess is the mariner is a rabbit, did you know that?"I raised an eyebrow. "A screwy rabbit?" I ventured. Of courseI hadn't a clue what she was talking about.The girl nodded again, vigorously this time. "A *moon* rabbit.""Which moon?" I asked.Her eyes drifted off toward the ceiling. "The Moon-That-Was of Earth-That-Was. Before Earth-That-Was was, the Moon-That-Was was." Her eyes snapped back to me. "But it wasn't. Not here."Okaaaaaay. "Not here?"She shook her head. "No, not here, never here. Where you were once, you learned it, and you remember it in the hole in your mind. But not out of the hole. It was where you were once, but where you are now is not the place it was.""Where I am now? Here, in this spaceship?""No! Different where, different when."Ah. Now I understood what she meant. Well, some of it. Thatlast bit, at least.-------River drifted up to me, tilted her head, and eyed me soberly. "Play that funky music, white boy," she said, absolutely deadpan.I blinked. "Where," I coughed, "did you hear that?""Your mind leaks," she replied simply.I frowned. "Through the hole in it, I presume."She shook her head and then tilted it the other way. "No... the hole contains, it does not release."-------"What are you doing?" Kaylee asked as she stared with frankfascination at my circle."Well," I said without looking up, "one of the key things you need to know about the universe is that how you see it and how it works are dependent on the... um..." I thought for a moment. "On the *metaphor* you use. Or maybe 'filter' would be a better word. Each metaphor has its strengths and weaknesses -- the scientific metaphor took humanity to the stars, for instance, because it handles physical processes so well. Hold on." Kaylee waited patiently as I frowned, my tongue slightly stuck out at the corner of my mouth, while I tried to shape the next symbol correctly. After a moment, I scribed it."No." River was at my side, having crept there without mynoticing somehow.I turned to her. "No?""No." She took the chalk from my hand, rubbed out the glyph,and scribed a slightly different one with sure, swift strokes.It was, I realized, what I had actually wanted there.I lifted my eyes to stare at her. "How...?"She shrugged nonchalantly. "Once you see the pattern in thelanguage, it's obvious." She handed the chalk back to me, andsat back on her heels, her arms wrapped around her knees.For a few seconds I stared into her huge eyes. "Riiiight," Ifinally said. Maybe Simon's boasts about her early genius weren't just the fond exaggerations of an affectionate olderbrother. I studied the chalk for a moment, then the circle.-------"It sure is amazing," Kaylee said, shaking her head."What is?""I ain't never run into a man who loved to hear himself talk as much as you do."
(Edit: Removed "Crystal" segment because I haven't yet cleared the use of Crystal with Kat, her player.)-- Bob
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Chaos isn't really chaos if it isn't Lawful part of the time.
River drifted in a slow orbit around the examination table as Simon swore softly under his breath and suppressed the urge to pound the readouts in front of him."Lost," River crooned, not quite looking at the man on the table. "Lost, lost, and lonely..."Mal ignored her. "Well, Doctor?" he demanded."I don't know," Simon growled. "The instruments are..." He shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it. Sometimes I get good readings, the rest of the time -- it's either meaningless, or it's nothing at all. It's like he's not quite there.""The walker in shadows," River suddenly hissed, dropping into acrouch at the foot of the table. "He misses her strength and hersong.""I think we all know who's not quite there," Jayne growled."Shut it, Jayne," Mal snapped.-------The girl crept up close to me and stared intently into my eyes. "You have a hole in your mind," she declared flatly."Do I?" I asked, curious about this girl with the strange,damaged aura."He ain't the only one," my grumpy guard announced, then went back to his gun.She ignored him, instead nodding slowly at me. "The peaceful princess put it there. It was an accident, but you won't be able to fix it until the time is right. The lunar mariner didn't mean to do it, but that's what the stone did." She tilted her head to one side, then leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially, "The princess is the mariner is a rabbit, did you know that?"I raised an eyebrow. "A screwy rabbit?" I ventured. Of courseI hadn't a clue what she was talking about.The girl nodded again, vigorously this time. "A *moon* rabbit.""Which moon?" I asked.Her eyes drifted off toward the ceiling. "The Moon-That-Was of Earth-That-Was. Before Earth-That-Was was, the Moon-That-Was was." Her eyes snapped back to me. "But it wasn't. Not here."Okaaaaaay. "Not here?"She shook her head. "No, not here, never here. Where you were once, you learned it, and you remember it in the hole in your mind. But not out of the hole. It was where you were once, but where you are now is not the place it was.""Where I am now? Here, in this spaceship?""No! Different where, different when."Ah. Now I understood what she meant. Well, some of it. Thatlast bit, at least.-------River drifted up to me, tilted her head, and eyed me soberly. "Play that funky music, white boy," she said, absolutely deadpan.I blinked. "Where," I coughed, "did you hear that?""Your mind leaks," she replied simply.I frowned. "Through the hole in it, I presume."She shook her head and then tilted it the other way. "No... the hole contains, it does not release."-------"What are you doing?" Kaylee asked as she stared with frankfascination at my circle."Well," I said without looking up, "one of the key things you need to know about the universe is that how you see it and how it works are dependent on the... um..." I thought for a moment. "On the *metaphor* you use. Or maybe 'filter' would be a better word. Each metaphor has its strengths and weaknesses -- the scientific metaphor took humanity to the stars, for instance, because it handles physical processes so well. Hold on." Kaylee waited patiently as I frowned, my tongue slightly stuck out at the corner of my mouth, while I tried to shape the next symbol correctly. After a moment, I scribed it."No." River was at my side, having crept there without mynoticing somehow.I turned to her. "No?""No." She took the chalk from my hand, rubbed out the glyph,and scribed a slightly different one with sure, swift strokes.It was, I realized, what I had actually wanted there.I lifted my eyes to stare at her. "How...?"She shrugged nonchalantly. "Once you see the pattern in thelanguage, it's obvious." She handed the chalk back to me, andsat back on her heels, her arms wrapped around her knees.For a few seconds I stared into her huge eyes. "Riiiight," Ifinally said. Maybe Simon's boasts about her early genius weren't just the fond exaggerations of an affectionate olderbrother. I studied the chalk for a moment, then the circle.-------"It sure is amazing," Kaylee said, shaking her head."What is?""I ain't never run into a man who loved to hear himself talk as much as you do."
(Edit: Removed "Crystal" segment because I haven't yet cleared the use of Crystal with Kat, her player.)-- Bob
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Chaos isn't really chaos if it isn't Lawful part of the time.
