I am standing in the xeric steppe a few hundred metres from our camp in my hulk form. I was attacked by one of the semiteleporting phantom monster. Hitting it was hard, tracking ability or not. Biting its head off has solved the problem. It has left me with another issue, though. Its blood is in my face and, worse, on my antennae. I need to repeat the trick of teleporting while reverting to ordinary form. It works on the third try. I woud have left the loot otherwise. Wealth really destroys motivation.
I am getting an unexpected visitor. The priestess. Though I should think of her first as an individual rather than a function. Technically I suppose one should call her a symbiont. If the theories about the origin of mitochondria and ribosomes are correct, so am I. Well, so was I at least. I need to let Karolína have a look at a blood sample through one of the microscopes in my storage space.
That said, with that thought the utility of the antibiotics in storage suddenly was in doubt.
GP: No, my goddess does not know precisely because you don’t know.
Shit. I was not going to start experimenting on humans, especially children, least of all my friends.
GP: You were seeking peace and quiet. But I think you will appreciate, if not enjoy, an opportunity to ask questions.
GP: You do need to actually ask. The act of asking is not just information transfer, it is also a decision to want to know.
P: I understand the conditions, but I am not sure about the motivation behind them.
GP: You are right. It is not just a „Prime Directive“. Knowledge ought to be worked for. On the individual level, however, that is impossible. Insisting on it would destroy the value of libraries and teachers. It would stop the progress of science. Introducing scientific results from an external contributor is no different in that light. The important aspect is that it can be rooted in experimental evidence that can be replicated here or based on other knowledge already present. To the learner it makes no difference whether the result comes from a domestic genius or a traveller.
We had an outworlder who asked similar questions. He did not fully grasp why my goddess insists on verifiable knowledge. He had a streak of foolish antiauthoritarianism which made it hard for him to admit that sometimes people do need to be told what is right.
P: Asano, the Starlight Rider?
GP: Yes.
I consider this.
P: Is there an objective wrong or right?
GP: In parts. One objective reality exists. Not everything can be seen as objectively right or wrong, but a part of what you consider matters of ethics has objective right and wrong answers, not subject to view points.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Dare I ask? Now I see why she insisted on asking.
„Above the quantum level and in the long run. Below that the answer needs to be qualified. The universe is fundamentally nondeterministic.“ - a whispering musical voice says in my mother tongue from all around me. „But enough of metaphysics. Practical questions, please.“
P: One more, please.
GP: Your home world has survived. Its destruction would trigger the next monster surge.
Have we really saved Earth? No, she did not say that. Our actions may just as well have been inconsequential.
Gabrielle grins.
P: Very well, practical questions. What should we do?
„You piss off me and him.“ - another female voice let’s me know. „That’s rare. No surprise she likes you.“
GP: You cannot please everybody, as you just heard. On Pallimustus the interests of important people usually prevail. To a far greater extent than proclaimed in your homeland.
P: Who was that?
GP: Liberty, speaking about Dominion and then Knowledge.
She turns around.
P: Gabrielle, one more thing. The idea of joining a priesthood terrifies me. It does not imply any ill feelings for you or other members of the priesthood.
She has a soft laughter.
GP: Thank you. I value reasoned objections. It comes with the job.
She wiggles her finger at me.
GP: Thinking about how Liberty can justify having priests is almost blasphemy. You outworlders really cannot help yourselves.
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L: I should go there. I can rescue them.
Z: No you cannot.
L: But I can heal …
Z: What is the cooldown of your ability?
L: An hour
Z: How much mana will it take?
L: It will almost drain me.
Z: Do you want me to count how many mana potions we have?
Her tail and shoulders sag.
Z: Sorry.
L: But what do we do?
Z: You keep or own people alive, especially that Slovak woman who thinks that she is the reincarnation of Albert Schweitzer.
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RG: Dean, what has happened?
DT: To us, nothing. No sign of the bandits. We met a priestess of Knowledge and foreign essence users.
He gestures at Karolína and Pavol.
RG: I see. So the Adventure Society already knows. Can we expect support?
DT: Rod, I see how that hits you. You did your best and what you had to do given the information you had. Your connections are much, much better than mine. If you don’t know what the Adventure Society or your family will do, neither do I.
RG: It’s just.
DT: I know. You need a night spent amongst friends. Come, get onto the skimmer. We need to make room.
KN: Wait, I am an idiot.
She pulls a bottle of charged water out of her belt.
KN: I will observe.
DT(shouting): Don’t be alarmed. She will send in summoned observers.
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KN: Something is not right. This does look like bubonic plague, but …
PN: But?
KN: They seem too active to me. But then I have never seen this disease in the wild.