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Is Agia a robot?

David Stockhoff · 18 Jun 2010, 12:38 · from 2010-June.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (David Stockhoff)
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:38:11 -0400
Subject: (urth) Is Agia a robot?
In-Reply-To: <4C1B189E.9070305 at io.com>
References: <AANLkTilEMWmWvkvMyu7eMmm7hPwOEJhYU5LPxe7ACNyN at mail.gmail.com>	<a16c27b53aac2465279145061b0dad82.squirrel at brunians.org>	<324527.37514.qm at web50706.mail.re2.yahoo.com>	<6EF719D8-3C09-4F2D-8756-F67DA969C9E8 at liftingfaces.com>
	<4C1B189E.9070305 at io.com>
Message-ID: <4C1B68B3.7040509 at verizon.net>

I'm a little baffled by this. Of course there is a natural explanation 
for the aureole---what would you expect?

Perhaps "At that moment I realized that Agia and Agilus were holy in 
their unity, because they wore a halo like that of the saints in my 
little book. They were like gods. I kneeled to them and prayed and said 
a few Hail Maries for good measure"?

Does Severian also describe every natural phenomenon he sees?

"Chapter XVII: The sky seemed to be releasing a liquid very much like 
water. Was it in fact rain?"

"Chapter XXI: The sun covered the ground with a substance very much like 
the light I used to see during the day when I was a boy."

"Chapter XXII: The substance I breathed into my lungs as I walked to 
Saltus seemed like a familiar mix of breathable gases."

I could go on.

Jeff Wilson wrote:
>> Or the aureole of light which surrounded Agia and Agilus's joined
>> heads when Severian barged in on them laying naked together
>> face-to-face?
>>
>> "Inside a naked man lay upon straw. A chain ran from the iron collar
>> bout his neck to the wall. A woman, naked too, bent over him, her
>> long, brown hair falling past her face and his so that it seemed to
>> unite them."
>>
>> "He stared at his hands, slender and rather soft, where they lay in
> > the narrow beam of sunlight that had given his head, and Agia's, an
> > aureole a few moments before."
>
> The aureaole is the scattering of the bright sunlight by someone's 
> backlit hair, giving a halo effect. Here is a similar effect with a 
> kitty:
>
> http://media.photobucket.com/image/backlit%20afro/caitlinjean/backlit-1.jpg 
>
>
> http://preview.tinyurl.com/29jlag7
>
>

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