to know more about what we're dealing with, for starters.
[ They're both extraordinary powers, but manipulating time is something more...approachable. Something possible with chroma that Sciel herself, to a small extent, can manage.
Resurrecting the dead, though... ]
i'm also curious how often it's happened. i only know of one case. is it a fluke? or a pattern?
[ Jasnah continues rotating the question(s) in her head. Actually, what if Sciel is asking about the man who can't die? Perhaps she'd been unaware of his condition. He'd certainly been trying to hide it, originally. Was it a secret even from the people who share a planet with him? Hmm.
She sits back in her chair — something hard and wooden, standard issue in the dormitories — and considers the little glowing phone screen. ]
I'd be more surprised if it was a fluke.
[ Unique things are so — well — unique. ]
But that doesn't make it a pattern, either. I take it there's no similar phenomenon where you're from?
[ Possibly a pattern. Still no reason to think one way or the other, not without more research, maybe, and more examples. Gustave is still the only one she's aware of, though it isn't as if she's been leading conversations with "Hi, any shot you definitely died in your world and then came here, right as rain?"
At the question, she...hesitates. Briefly. Thinks of Verso, of course, but...his Paintress-given immortality isn't this. ]
no. those who die or who are gommaged stay dead.
[ With the exception of one family. And she doesn't love lying to Jasnah, but sharing her own secrets with the other woman is one thing: offering his...isn't her place. ]
[ Tap-tap-tap goes her nail against the devices edge. Either the man who can't die is lying to Sciel or Sciel is lying to her. Jasnah can't decide which possibility she'd prefer. She does feel an uncharitable pull towards the former. But it's not as though she needs any more reasons to feel disquieted by Verso. It's not as though she needs any more reasons to feel concerned for Sciel's judgement.
...Ugh. There's nothing noble in what she's about to do. She makes an educated guess. ]
I would rather you were honest with me.
[ And if Sciel doesn't know about her fellow Expeditioner's condition? Well. Jasnah doesn't feel one ounce of reluctance when it comes to spilling some guy's secrets in the face of whatever odd, awkward affection she feels for Sciel. She deserves to know. ]
[ ...Does she know? Does Jasnah's response only make sense if she knows, if...she's either spoken to to Lune about it already (most likely) or that she's not only met Verso, but that he'd-...what, mentioned his immortality? Or...it'd come up because Jasnah had witnessed him suffer a would-be fatal wound and not die. But...Jasnah hadn't mentioned knowing him at the party, so had they met sometime after...?
Best to just let the other woman explain for herself. In the meantime, Sciel considers her side of things for a while before replying with: ]
there are some people that are the exception to the rule. only a few.
[ "It's private, and it's painful, and it's none of your business." The coldness of that conversation following the mess at Old Lumiere is still fresh enough. If Verso weren't here, she'd probably just launch into the whole thing. Since he is, and she's still reticent to spill anything that could remotely be considered his business, she leaves it at that for now. ]
[ Jasnah proceeds to not explain herself. It's not that she wants to hide her interactions with Verso; rather, any urge to share their existence is equal with an urge to not share. However — rather interesting that Sciel suggests Verso's not the only one back home who is capable of such feats. She has to ask herself: is Sciel likely to obfuscate the truth by pretending a plural that doesn't exist?
Her gut tells her no. ]
The same can be said for Roshar. Such instances generally coincide with an individual possessing a significant amount of [ — Investiture — ] powerful energy at the time of their death. Enough to make a person...stick around.
[ Hm. Yes. That'll do. ]
But I can't claim any direct knowledge of what that might mean for the dead appearing here in the city. But I'll look into it.
[ Jasnah doesn't explain. It's...not a surprise, but it also is, somehow. ]
roshar?
[ Immediately distracted by trying to remember whether or not the word has come up to this point. No...right?
Either way, she doesn't press, particularly if her 'question' (such as the simple repetition of the word is) goes unaddressed. ]
that sounds a little different from what i've seen. at home, the most you can do is sense people who've died [ assuming they haven't been killed by Nevrons ] if you've got an affinity with chroma. in that way, i guess, they can "stick around." but it's really just a feeling.
[ Not anything even close to a true revival...unfortunately. ]
i really appreciate it, jasnah. is there anything i can help you with, to pay you back?
[ Hm. What to respond to? And in what order? Jasnah could provide a miniature lesson on Cognitive Shadows. But she's not certain it would be helpful. ]
Roshar is the planet I'm from. My home world.
[ She knows that planet doesn't really work for everyone; however, it's most accurate to her knowledge of the Cosmere. ]
No repayment required. Except perhaps to share the consequences of whatever we learn. These matters also interest me.
[ That's right. The word returns through the no man's land of what her mind had been through in the interim. ]
i remember now. you were talking about the books you'd look for if you were home.
[ "On Roshar." A cozy bookshop in the middle of a rainy afternoon... The memory is both very far away and just beyond arm's length. ]
of course. i can pass anything along that the others learn, too. lots of questions already around here so it'll be stiff competition, but this does seem like something worth prioritizing.
[ Genuinely! While it's true that she has a selfish, vested interest in the subject, that's only a small part of it. ]
no need. it isn't a secret. you can say it was me asking if that's ever relevant.
[ Not, of course, because she has any particular sway, especially not in the places Jasnah would be looking, but rather in case they've got follow-up questions. So she adds: ]
no need for you to be a go-between on top of everything else you've got going on.
[ Storms. What else has she got going on? Jasnah Kholin used to have a royal agenda packed from dawn to dusk and beyond: coalition meetings; sword training; correspondence; personal research. Scribing for herself because she's the first openly literate Alethi monarch. By contrast, her days here feel empty. Anchorless. She doesn't even yet know the questions she should try to answer. So, Sciel's is a good start. And maybe one that can be tackled in conjunction with her transcription duties.
Anyway. That's about where her tactfulness tops out. Because what follows— ]
Are you perhaps hoping it's not a [ what was the word she used? ] fluke?
[ Concerning. Understandable — downright human, perhaps — but concerning. Jasnah sets her phone down just long enough to pull a thin notebook over from the corner of her desk. In it, she jots a few thoughts on what Sciel has revealed between the letters of her response.
Eventually, maybe with a twenty to thirty second delay: ]
I suspect the phenomenon is related to that other occurance you mentioned. You having apparently been here once before.
[ It is possible to return to a point in your time that will not cause a disruption towards your own existence, G'raha had theorized. Surely, it will be the same in death. ]
And so I imagine both circumstances are equally likely.
[ They're not quite friends, given the way that Jasnah seems to hold most everyone and everything at arm's length, but there is a...caring honestly to their interactions all the same. As if the Rosharan woman can't help herself when a situation arises in which she might offer advice to Sciel when she feels it's warranted, in spite of the distance that still stretches between them, between their experiences.
It's why the response does, in fact, give her hope. Because...it's unlikely Jasnah would ever just humor her. ]
that's a good point, actually. hadn't thought about the two as being connected, but it's all down to time, isn't it?
[ Hmm. ]
that's another area where i don't have a lot of information. whether there have been others like me who were here before but don't remember it.
No one that I've knowingly spoken to. However, I'd learned about its possibility from someone else. There is some pre-existing thought around whether coming here splinters our personal timelines to one degree or another. Coming straight here from death might be similar.
[ Contrary to certain other recent threads, Jasnah doesn't actually go around talking about other people all that often. But — yes, rather than quibble the point, she'll keep an ear out for anyone who might have met Sciel previously.
yes, actually. he — or someone from his world — shared a message about other worlds. we got to talking. apparently he knew me when i was here before, too.
[ Hm — convenient. And perhaps a clear indication of how small, interconnected the Diadem's population must be. Jasnah shifts her attention back to her notebook and (flipping back a few pages) adds another note. This time, to a page on G'raha. ]
Did he elaborate on those circumstances?
[ She'd left their conversation with the understanding that he was looking into the existential circumstances of leaving one world and arriving here. ]
he mentioned multiple examples of conflicting timelines. "alternate" timelines, too. he was wondering if that could be what happened: that the other me and i are from completely separate timelines, so it wasn't really "me" at all. he'd spent some time with that sciel though, looking for a child in the diffusion zones.
Yes. He and I discussed those theories. And your questions reminded me. Someone arriving here from the dead (so to speak) might be one of those diverging timelines.
[ Fortune is a tricky quality to manipulate. Could it be intentional? Jasnah frowns. ]
[ Life and death, alternate universes, diverging timelines. The kinds of things that Lune and Gustave might love to pour over and piece together, which Sciel might normally not afford any more than a bit of curiosity by virtue of it being so inherently strange. ...She had downplayed it all already, before Gustave's arrival. Before certain possibilities had arisen, before Jasnah gathered up all the strings and fixed them to a singular point. ]
that makes sense. then they aren't "coming back from the dead," really. just being pulled from a particularly important point in time.
[ Gustave had arrived with evidence of Renoir's attack, which could only mean he'd been transported at a very crucial moment. A very crucial second, even. But...why? Is there any rhyme or reason to it? ]
what if
[ Something occurs to her. Flutters her heart. ]
that power could be controlled? used to send us back, but not to the time we left?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ They're both extraordinary powers, but manipulating time is something more...approachable. Something possible with chroma that Sciel herself, to a small extent, can manage.
Resurrecting the dead, though... ]
i'm also curious how often it's happened.
i only know of one case. is it a fluke? or a pattern?
[ There it is again, like a weed. Hope. ]
no subject
She sits back in her chair — something hard and wooden, standard issue in the dormitories — and considers the little glowing phone screen. ]
I'd be more surprised if it was a fluke.
[ Unique things are so — well — unique. ]
But that doesn't make it a pattern, either. I take it there's no similar phenomenon where you're from?
no subject
At the question, she...hesitates. Briefly. Thinks of Verso, of course, but...his Paintress-given immortality isn't this. ]
no. those who die or who are gommaged stay dead.
[ With the exception of one family. And she doesn't love lying to Jasnah, but sharing her own secrets with the other woman is one thing: offering his...isn't her place. ]
no subject
...Ugh. There's nothing noble in what she's about to do. She makes an educated guess. ]
I would rather you were honest with me.
[ And if Sciel doesn't know about her fellow Expeditioner's condition? Well. Jasnah doesn't feel one ounce of reluctance when it comes to spilling some guy's secrets in the face of whatever odd, awkward affection she feels for Sciel. She deserves to know. ]
no subject
Best to just let the other woman explain for herself. In the meantime, Sciel considers her side of things for a while before replying with: ]
there are some people that are the exception to the rule.
only a few.
[ "It's private, and it's painful, and it's none of your business." The coldness of that conversation following the mess at Old Lumiere is still fresh enough. If Verso weren't here, she'd probably just launch into the whole thing. Since he is, and she's still reticent to spill anything that could remotely be considered his business, she leaves it at that for now. ]
no subject
Her gut tells her no. ]
The same can be said for Roshar. Such instances generally coincide with an individual possessing a significant amount of [ — Investiture — ] powerful energy at the time of their death. Enough to make a person...stick around.
[ Hm. Yes. That'll do. ]
But I can't claim any direct knowledge of what that might mean for the dead appearing here in the city. But I'll look into it.
[ It's a worthwhile research project. ]
no subject
roshar?
[ Immediately distracted by trying to remember whether or not the word has come up to this point. No...right?
Either way, she doesn't press, particularly if her 'question' (such as the simple repetition of the word is) goes unaddressed. ]
that sounds a little different from what i've seen.
at home, the most you can do is sense people who've died [ assuming they haven't been killed by Nevrons ] if you've got an affinity with chroma.
in that way, i guess, they can "stick around." but it's really just a feeling.
[ Not anything even close to a true revival...unfortunately. ]
i really appreciate it, jasnah.
is there anything i can help you with, to pay you back?
no subject
Roshar is the planet I'm from. My home world.
[ She knows that planet doesn't really work for everyone; however, it's most accurate to her knowledge of the Cosmere. ]
No repayment required. Except perhaps to share the consequences of whatever we learn. These matters also interest me.
no subject
i remember now. you were talking about the books you'd look for if you were home.
[ "On Roshar." A cozy bookshop in the middle of a rainy afternoon... The memory is both very far away and just beyond arm's length. ]
of course.
i can pass anything along that the others learn, too.
lots of questions already around here so it'll be stiff competition, but this does seem like something worth prioritizing.
[ Genuinely! While it's true that she has a selfish, vested interest in the subject, that's only a small part of it. ]
no subject
[ Lune, naturally. But who else? Just the others from back home? Or are there other scholars here in Diadem that Sciel has on speed dial... ]
no subject
well. just lune.
[ c: ]
no subject
How quiet should I keep this line of inquiry?
[ That is — how carefully should she approach other scholars who might have more foundational knowledge than she currently does? ]
no subject
you can say it was me asking if that's ever relevant.
[ Not, of course, because she has any particular sway, especially not in the places Jasnah would be looking, but rather in case they've got follow-up questions. So she adds: ]
no need for you to be a go-between on top of everything else you've got going on.
no subject
Anyway. That's about where her tactfulness tops out. Because what follows— ]
Are you perhaps hoping it's not a [ what was the word she used? ] fluke?
no subject
yes.
more than anything.
no subject
Eventually, maybe with a twenty to thirty second delay: ]
I suspect the phenomenon is related to that other occurance you mentioned. You having apparently been here once before.
[ It is possible to return to a point in your time that will not cause a disruption towards your own existence, G'raha had theorized. Surely, it will be the same in death. ]
And so I imagine both circumstances are equally likely.
[ Not a fluke. ]
no subject
It's why the response does, in fact, give her hope. Because...it's unlikely Jasnah would ever just humor her. ]
that's a good point, actually.
hadn't thought about the two as being connected, but it's all down to time, isn't it?
[ Hmm. ]
that's another area where i don't have a lot of information.
whether there have been others like me who were here before but don't remember it.
no subject
[ Easy confirmation. ]
No one that I've knowingly spoken to. However, I'd learned about its possibility from someone else. There is some pre-existing thought around whether coming here splinters our personal timelines to one degree or another. Coming straight here from death might be similar.
no subject
do you mind if i ask who you heard it from?
i'm also looking for other people, besides kimiko, who knew me then.
curious what else i got up to. in case you ever run into anyone who mentions it.
no subject
As for her question: ]
His name is G'raha. Any familiarity?
no subject
yes, actually.
he — or someone from his world — shared a message about other worlds.
we got to talking. apparently he knew me when i was here before, too.
no subject
Did he elaborate on those circumstances?
[ She'd left their conversation with the understanding that he was looking into the existential circumstances of leaving one world and arriving here. ]
no subject
"alternate" timelines, too.
he was wondering if that could be what happened: that the other me and i are from completely separate timelines, so it wasn't really "me" at all.
he'd spent some time with that sciel though, looking for a child in the diffusion zones.
no subject
[ Fortune is a tricky quality to manipulate. Could it be intentional? Jasnah frowns. ]
no subject
that makes sense.
then they aren't "coming back from the dead," really. just being pulled from a particularly important point in time.
[ Gustave had arrived with evidence of Renoir's attack, which could only mean he'd been transported at a very crucial moment. A very crucial second, even. But...why? Is there any rhyme or reason to it? ]
what if
[ Something occurs to her. Flutters her heart. ]
that power could be controlled?
used to send us back, but not to the time we left?
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)