AEG clones

Roy C. Lackey · 19 Dec 2008, 07:01 · from 2008-December.txt.gz

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From: rclackey at stic.net (Roy C. Lackey)
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:01:19 -0600
Subject: (urth) AEG clones
References: <1bf4dd40812181545s57baa914vbcdc7d4b4e3a1822 at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <011201c961a7$9d3811e0$4dcf4a0c@rclackey>

Dave Tallman quoted and wrote:
> Gid (or someone) had already told her that Reis "walks unseen" in the note
> > written on the back of one of the pictures he left her the night before
the
> > play. (44) With that in mind, go back and read carefully the bit at the
top
> > of page 21, as he was leaving the White House. On a sunny day. If I were
a
> > rabid clone theorist, I would also start wondering about John's glasses
> > (15)
> > and Gid's cryptic little dig at him about optics. (19) And why Reis
wears
> > glasses only in some photos. He was wearing glasses when she saw him in
the
> > audience.
>
>
> Perhaps Gid can also "walk unseen" when he wants to, and was worried about
> shadows.

He said he couldn't do it, but might be able to learn if he tried for a year
or two. (196) My point is, yes, he thought he might be followed from the
White House in the conventional gumshoe sense, but he amended his thought to
wonder if he was also "being followed already." (21) So he tried to tire and
lose "his unseen companion--or companions--if he could." I find the choice
of the word "unseen" to be just too coincidental, given what he soon wrote
on the back of that photo. I think he was looking for shadows that should't
have been there.

> A few points about "optics":
> 1) Gid may be referring to the ability to walk unseen, since it is a skill
> used and taught on Woldercan.

Humans can and have walked unseen long before they discovered Woldercan.
(198)

> 2) Since we have laser surgery even today, one would think ordinary
glasses
> to correct vision would be obsolete.
> 3) The assassin says she wears glasses that let her see in the dark (p.
> 249). John's glasses may be of this type.

It was daytime. In the White House.

> 4) John's glasses are thick (giving the impression of blindness, p. 15)
and
> making eye contact difficult. That might be a precaution against
hypnotism.
> 5) The glasses are only seen in the full-length shot (p. 44), perhaps
taken
> without Reis knowing. The close-ups may be posed. Reis may wear glasses in
> public as a disguise.

Sunglasses are a given. (44) But in a darkened theater at night, why would a
man who is invisible wear glasses to disguise himself? Why show up invisible
at all? He was invited. And the Jimmy incident happened after the play was
over.

> Speaking of invisibility, here is a really strange instance. Vince Palma
> brushes an "invisible yellow feather" from his lips at the party (p. 64).
He
> will wear a headdress of red and yellow feathers as the Volcano God (p.
> 285). Is he wearing this at the "Red Spot" party, and rendering it
invisible
> by mental powers? He seems to be one powerful guy:

I took the yellow feather bit as just a continuation of the cat analogy. As
in the common expression "the cat that ate the canary". He is pompous, smug,
just full of himself.

> 1) He knows about Gray Neighbors and banshees (p. 64).
> 2) He plays with Cassie like a cat with a mouse (p. 63).
> 3) He knows Cassie's real name (p. 63), which she is startled to find out
> that Reis knows later (p. 146).
> 3) His voice makes everything he says sound important (p. 285).
>
> His role in "The Red Spot" is minor (a poor scheming detective p. 63), but
> Rosenquist picks him out for the Volcano God at once. Who is Vince Palma
> really? Is he possessed by the Volcano God, perhaps under the control of
> Bill Reis? The real Volcano God looks like him when he appears to Cassie,
so
> there seems to be something there...

Yeah, but I'm not sure what. Maybe this is a clue: Vince claims to be 6'4";
Reis is 6'2". I can't recall if Gil is said to be slightly taller than Gid,
but Klauser thought the "Casey girl" was about a half inch taller than the
aged Cassie. (295) That's an odd thing for a man who saw the glamourized
Cassie only on vid to say. But there might be a pattern there.

-Roy

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