we are not truly immortal

[dark_light]

After Glass's party is over with, Amariah and Kas go home.

Amariah fetches down their alethiometers.

"It's about time I took care of Alethia's afterlife, whatever it may be," she says quietly. "What can the alethiometer tell you about what I'll find?"

Comments

[truthwright]

The alethiometer says, "Who can speak the truth can satisfy truth-hunger."

"If I'd asked it that question, I might've said it answered, 'Cam can do that'," says Kas. "But it doesn't talk about people by name; it talks about them by who they are. And it talked about you by you being a wizard. Why, is that important?"

[lifes_sake]

"Maybe. I mean, something is hungering for truth, maybe only wizards can talk to it, maybe we should bring Tilly and Jellybean, but on the other hand maybe it's calling me a wizard to tell me apart from Amariah and Shell Bell and the key thing is my truthy aura and we should bring Elspeth," says Cam. "For that matter, I'm getting sufficient heebie-jeebies around this that maybe we should borrow Mary from Stella, or Alice from Golden."

[truthwright]

"...Can I talk to it for a sec?" says Kas.

[lifes_sake]

Cam hands Kas his, and takes the other, which he asks: "Are wizards particularly helpful for the thing in the afterlife that hungers for truth?"

[truthwright]

"You can speak the truth," says the second alethiometer.

"It called you a wizard again," says Kas, who is watching Cam instead of questioning his own.

[lifes_sake]

"I'm just hearing 'you'... I'm going to ask Jellybean and Elspeth in here so it can compare them..."

Through Jane: [Hey Jellybean, want to wish upon a star and come be in Alethia so the alethiometer can 'see' more than one wizard?]

And a similar invitation to Elspeth.

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth shows up a moment later.

[pythbox]

[Sure,] says Jellybean, and he makes the wish. Immediately upon arrival, he kisses Cam.

[lifes_sake]

Mmmm, kisses.

"Are wizards, like the self-defining over here, a source of truth like what the thing in the afterlife wants?"

[truthwright]

"Wizards can speak the truth," says the alethiometer.

"That's the exact same thing it just said," says Kas.

[lifes_sake]

"How would the princess in this room," says Cam, lacking a full wizard name for her and unsure how the alethiometer will comprehend names, "interact with the thing in the afterlife that hungers for truth?"

[truthwright]

"She speaks the truth," says the alethiometer. Kas cracks up.

[lifes_sake]

"Was something funny about how it said that?" Cam asks Kas.

[truthwright]

"It was just the same two meanings backwards and forwards," he says. "Truth/speak/speak/truth. But the first part meant Elspeth, and the second part meant her power."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"The alethiometer refers to me as 'truth speak'?" says Elspeth, amused.

[truthwright]

"It doesn't really do grammar," says Kas. "If I was trying to translate it properly instead of explain the joke, I'd say it called you Truth-Speaker, or 'the one who tells the truth', or something."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"I wonder if I can communicate with the alethiometers. Are they intelligent?" asks Elspeth.

[truthwright]

"Um... good question," says Kas.

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth peers at the one in Cam's hand and sends, wordless: Can you hear me? Tell Cam.

[truthwright]

The alethiometer tells Cam, "The truth-speaker is speaking to me."

Kas giggles again.

[lifes_sake]

"Yeah, it hears you," Cam reports to Elspeth. "Maybe you'll have better luck than me."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"What do we know so far?"

[lifes_sake]

"The Alethian afterlife isn't physically dangerous, but there's some sort of other hazard there that has knowledge and hungers for truth," says Cam. "Although come to think of it I'm not sure appeasing this hunger is the best bet, maybe it'd just eat us."

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth nods and sends again. Still wordless; Cam may have to take the reply in words but that doesn't mean it can't be helpfully unconstraining to send the question freeform. Tell Cam, please - what will happen exactly if he and I and Jellybean and Amariah and Shell Bell go to the afterlife here?

[truthwright]

The alethiometer tells Cam, "If you and the truth-speaker and the self-defining and the witch and the one whose daemon is unseparate go to the afterlife, you and the truth-speaker and the self-defining may please that which hungers for truth."

Kas says, "Wow, that was long. Do you guys want me to translate too?"