In which matters proceed with unexpected swiftness.
We were discussing pacing in the comments a few posts ago, and I said that I have trouble judging it because I only read one chapter a day. This isn’t entirely true; although I usually do read one chapter and write one blog post a day, I sometimes get ahead of the schedule if the story is exciting enough to pull me forward. (The record is the end of Scout’s Progress and beginning of Mouse and Dragon, where I burned through at least a dozen chapters as quickly as I could write the blog posts between.) The reason I mention this is that there have been a couple of places in Neogenesis, including this chapter, where I’ve started to feel that pull forward, only for it to be cut off as the story switches to a different set of characters. Switching to a new storyline every time the current one gets exciting is a way to keep suspense, but it also means that each storyline has trouble building momentum.
It occurs to me that Inki’s statement regarding the impossibility of replacing the specific architecture the Light runs on, though true as far as she knows, may not be entirely accurate. Seignur Veeoni, we have been told, has been successful in creating new frames and fractins, and might be able to do up a new architecture for the Light. Indeed, that may be the goal she’s working toward.
The chapter mentions a couple of times that Tocohl was busy with “research and implementation” while Inki slept, but unless I missed something it didn’t specify what she was implementing. Countermeasures against being taken over by the Light, I hope.
It appears that the Light’s quick acceptance of Inki’s offer may have been less about willingness to co-operate than about wishing to quickly deal with a threat. If someone’s expressed a determination to get at your core, and you don’t want them to, better to deal with them immediately and permanently and be done. (On the other hand, to be carefully fair, perhaps the Light is in a situation similar to Inki’s: part of it genuinely wants the new stable hardware, but another part is compelled to defend the core against all comers.)
I find that I’m not sure Inki is permanently dealt with, though it may just be my sense of drama insisting on it: after all she’s been through, it seems anticlimactic for her to die so suddenly now. If I had to guess, it would be that she has become subject to the same regenerative process as Jen Sin and Lorith and will soon be back on the scene — though I seem to recall that in “The Space at Tinsori Light” there was advance preparation required to make sure the process ran smoothly. The thing I think I recall is that the Light can rebuild bodies at will, but advance preparation is required to preserve memories. I’m not sure if an Inki without memories would be good news or bad; it could be a chance for her to start fresh without the Institute’s programming weighing her down, but what if the Institute’s programming is built into her bones so deep that it survives? (What if the Institute’s programming is the only thing of Inki that survives?)
I think you’ve spotted the dilemma here:
“I’ve started to feel that pull forward, only for it to be cut off as the story switches to a different set of characters. Switching to a new storyline every time the current one gets exciting is a way to keep suspense, but it also means that each storyline has trouble building momentum.”
I felt Inki’s end came so suddenly, too. Shocking, in a way. It never occurred to me she might not be truly gone, though. I suppose anything is possible with T Light. But did you notice how she tried to protect Tocohl, in her final moments? That felt right to me, in keeping with Inki’s internal need to protect Tocohl, despite her Lyre programming.
I really hope Lyre gets their final comeuppance while I’m still around to read of it. I still think Lyre and DOI could be masterminded by the same evil manipulator.
Do you know, it didn’t occur to me that Inki might be trying to protect Tocohl; I read it as Inki clinging to Tocohl in the hope that Tocohl might somehow be able to protect her.
That’s because I read Inki as being the one in danger; the weapon that went ‘click’ had been billed specifically as used to kill organics, so it seemed obvious to me that its target was Inki, who is organic (and also who had conspicuously taken the lead in pushing to gain access to the Light’s core, making her the obvious threat).
Rereading it now, with your suggestion in mind, I can see a different sequence of events: Tocohl marks herself as a threat by dealing easily with the guard ‘bot, the Light decides to get rid of her, Inki pushes her out of the path of the bolt and gets zapped instead.
And the scene works that way. It didn’t, the way I was reading it before, which is why I found it anticlimactic and doubted it was a real death scene: it was just “Inki is moseying along and suddenly gets zapped”, and all the foreshadowing about her offering her life for Tocohl’s going to waste. Now it is a dramatic ending for Inki, one that pays off the build-up — and, as you say, one where Inki herself has the final word over her programming. Thank you.
Happy to help. By the way, I had to read it several times before that scene clicked for me.
I think that’s partly why Tocohl fell down. Inki pushed her, plus the residual rush of air from the energy bolt.
PA: Seignur Veeoni, we have been told, has been successful in creating new frames and fractins, and might be able to do up a new architecture for the Light.
I wonder if her work will still come into use. I find myself hoping that Tochol can separate herself from the Light even now, releasing the Light to its original purpose. and allowing her to reclaim herself. I’m curious what others think (Paul? Othin?).
@Inki’s death
Hu, am I in the minority? For me the scene immediately spelled Inki saving Tochol. And I wondered why Tochol didn’t seem to get that as clearly? And it also seemed to be indicating how one beets the Lyre Institute. Acting without thought – so that the programming had nothing to grip on to. Inki didn’t think on it, she acted on instinct and feeling.
@Tochol’s long term future? I believe she’ll choose duty – that means she remains as the Light. But it’ll be nice if she also retains her body, so she’ll interact with humans on a more equal level. At least from time to time. But then I envision the Light as a growing environment – with its own Tree. A tree that might use special supply ducts to push roots or branches into new rooms, places or boulevards and docking stations, growing as the station grows. And its core – or maybe its roots protecting the lights core and brains. I don’t think Tochol will be lonely or have a chance at getting bored.