Subject: (urth) More 5HC questions

From: Neal Smith <nsmith at micro.ti.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 14:14:06 +0000

I had mentioned in passing the addictive substances that the
Shadow Children used in "A Story", in response to a post of Alga's.
Later, this made me think: how much significance should we attach to
this substance?  I seem to remember a passage, perhaps the same one,
where use of the drug is linked to not being able to use tools.  (I'm
not completely certain of this, not having the book in front of me
at the moment).

	Exploring this, would this indicate that the factors causing
the abos to not be able to use tools are more environmental?  Perhaps
the abos are capable of using tools, if they can recover sufficiently,
but the "humans" (non-abos?) aren't used to seeing them that way.  Is
this related to Roy T. being a drunkard?  Is it stated that he drinks,
or that he's intoxicated - possibly on something else?  (I think it is
stated he drinks, but I'm going to have to go back and look now).

	The reason this takes on any significance, is that most of
the arguments for or against abos or half-abos still being around, or
not, seem to focus on just how much tool use some of the characters
demonstrate.

	Just some questions - I'll be looking back over the story to
see if any of this is supported.  Anyone else have thoughts on the
topic?

Neal Smith

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