The Secret: a new theory

James Jordan · 20 Apr 2001, 10:17 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: James Jordan <jbjordan4 at home.com>
Subject: Re: (whorl) The Secret: a new theory
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 10:17:50
Message-ID: <whorl-v0012-0668 at digest.urth.net>
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At 11:50 AM 4/20/2001 +0100, Nick G. wrote:

>The resolution to the problem, I now argue, is another
>much-questioned feature of TBSS's plot: astral travel.
>Why can Horn travel astrally when in the company of an
>inhumu? Surely because the Neighbors bestowed a
>strictly passive astral travel capability on the
>inhumi ...

         If this attractive theory be correct, it seems to me that it=20
should connect to the question of how the inhumi travel from Green to Blue.=20
Since they can't tolerate cold, we know that the inhumi don't fly from=20
Green to Blue. But perhaps they employ this astral travel ability to do so.=20
Of course, it would be a different kind of use of the ability, since they=20
don't leave their bodies behind. At the same time, astral travellers seem=20
to have some kind of physical body with them, even though their ur-body is=20
asleep back home. Astral travel with inhumi lies between full teleportation=20
on the one hand and mere spirit-travel on the other. I think that's a clew.=20
I think the inhumi are capable of teleportation.
         "We get our intelligence from you." Hmmm. Try this out:=20
Animal-inhumi are just tools for astral travel. But when an inhumi gets=20
Neighbor or human blood, then both of the necessary factors are present=20
INSIDE him/her: inhumi astral ability + human intelligence. In that case,=20
Smart-inhumi do not need another human to travel astrally, and perhaps the=20
super-close connection of human blood and inhumi genes enables the=20
Smart-inhumi to teleport, not just travel astrally. (That is, a mixture of=20
human blood and inhumi genes is stronger then a human holding hands with an=20
inhumu/a.)
         It seems you cannot go anywhere that nobody in the group has ever=20
been to. But if only one smart-inhumu/a makes the trip, then others can=20
make the trip with him/her, and that will expand until millions are making=20
the trip.
         Since this hypothetical ability is linked to conjunction, it would=20
seem that they can teleport between Green and Blue when the two are close=20
to each other. It appears that distance plays a part in the ability of=20
Smart-inhumi to teleport -- an SF aspect of this seemingly fantasy element.
         Travelling greater distances would not be possible by=20
teleportation, but only by astral travel. Also, travelling with a human=20
must be astral and not teleportation, since the human lacks the inhumi=20
ability. That is, when you add a teleporting inhumi with a wholly=20
non-teleporting human, you get something in between.
         If I'm right, then the precise ability of the inhumi is not astral=20
travel but teleportation. The Neighbors gave Animal-inhumi the ability to=20
teleport, but no ability to use it. Standing with a Neighbor, who cannot=20
teleport, the inhumi can enable astral travel but not full teleportation.=20
It enables the Neighbor to "phone home" or phone anywhere else he has ever=20
been. Aha! But inhumi are vampires and when one generation of Animal-inhumi=20
get some Neighbor blood, the next generation turns out to be Smart-inhumi.=20
Smart-inhumi can use their ability to teleport. One S-I can get with=20
another S-I and go wherever that second S-I has ever been, and not just by=20
astral travel: the two can teleport there.
         Well, one speculation calls for another. So, Gevers, does this=20
advance your theory, or it is poppycock?

JBJordan


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