In which Tyl Von sig’Alda makes an approach.
sig’Alda is demonstrating a very closed-minded attitude here: instead of paying attention to new information and adjusting his theories and plans, he’s holding on to his theories and plans and taking in only what information fits what he already believes he knows. Some of it’s definitely indoctrination, like the way he shies away from the possibility that Val Con might be consciously and happily free of the Department’s influence, and some of it is… probably at least partly due to indoctrination, like the way he dismisses everything any Terran does as an irrelevant distraction. But I’m not sure that explains the way he seems to have accepted certain things as facts when they were only ever presented as plausible theories, like Miri’s supposed drug addiction.
One way and another, his inability or disinclination to accept new information is going to come back and bite him sooner or later, when reality fails to match the contents of his head. The question is how much damage he’s going to do before then, trying to impose the contents of his head on reality.
PA: like Miri’s supposed drug addiction.
I don’t recall…he has no more information about this than we do at this point? Because of course, we find out that Miri definitely was addicted to Cloud.
We also find out that it is not very well known that a Cloud addiction can be broken. It seems to be a very rare occurrence, especially without any help of Liaden healers. It also does require a very strong willed person. And such a strong will is an attribute Tyl Von sig’Alda is not ready to assign any Terran.
Another part of this might be his own – later revealed – addiction to the DoI reporting drug. He at least is subconsciously aware of how strong it is. “And since the imprisoned part of him can’t break free of it, it must be impossible.” – We only find out later why it seems that way – and also what damage those DoI drugs leave in their agents.
And there is another part – human brain will always be looking for things that fit once preconceptions and ignore almost anything that doesn’t. I expect the DoI indoctrination to have strengthened that part of information processing in their agents.
Ed8r, sig’Alda knows for a fact that Miri was addicted to Cloud; it’s one of the things that turned up when he looked into her background.
But his conviction that she is now addicted to Cloud has no evidence to support it; it was only ever a hypothesis he came up with when he couldn’t think of any other reason why Miri might want to hang out with Val Con and vice versa.
Thanks, Paul…that sets it all straight.