TheStarsAreRight:CarlNote6
REDLAND
"Carl, is there anything from the library here that I should take to learn more about outsiders and or negotiating? I figure I should have some time to study on our trip to the asylum."
"Oh, also, I'm a little concerned about the so-called 'Spanish contingent.' I'm not sure how to put this, but they seem... sort of evil. Shady at best. Is the problem in the leadership or in the organization? It seems troubling to ally with villains. The enemy of my enemy... is not necessarily my friend..."
CARL
"Hmm... good questions, my friend. The answers to both are intertwined, and the truth is somewhat complex.
"The brief answer to the first is that there is nothing in the library
here, in London, on negotiating with the Outside. Nor is there
anything in the house in France. The traditions of the French
organization consider any such concept to be anathema, degrading,
dangerous and unacceptable -- something to be stamped out the
moment it is found. It is only in the archives in Tibet that we find
that once, long ago, such negotiation was a vital part of the conflict
even for the antecedents of the French cause. The Tibetan records
are very rich, but also hard to read and interpret; our understanding
grows slowly. We're feeling our way here bit by bit. You will have
a change to look for yourself -- but not until we get there, after we
visit Cornwall I'm afraid.
"The Spanish, on the other hand, have a policy of utter pragmatism.
They will use any tactic that will give them victory, if the price is
right. They routinely make use of sorcerors who instrument
'deals' with Outside things -- and in fact their current position of
power seems to be the result of some ancient negotiation between
the King of Fate and Outside forces that twisted the entire world
out of true and left the rest in that King's control. However, the
precise details of that deal are lost -- I believe -- and the pact
turned, ultimately, in the Spanish King's hands into something else.
Theo's predecessor, Eiseley, created an immense metaphysical
machine to cement his rule. The machine sat out there, on the
border between Here and Otherwhere, and magnified his power
beyond reckoning -- his perceptions, through the machine, could
reach across the world -- and his will, through the machine, could
manifest in the smallest places, anywhere. Unfortunately for
Eiseley, the Machine was alive and had a will of its own. Over
the vast years of its use, it developed its own agenda -- one we
do not know even today -- and in time, Eiseley became dependent
upon the machine for his work -- half mad, half slave, ultimately powerful,
lost in his own vision of a perfect clockwork world that was in some ways
utterly different from the reality in which he worked; and it is not clear
even now the extent to which he was aware of this. Eiseley's story
is a cautionary one -- a tale which shows that even in victory the
dangers of dealing with the Outside can never be forgotten.
Even long after that victory has occured.
"For centuries, the French faction fought against the Spanish faction,
seeing them solely as evil. The literature in France calls them 'The
Dark', and the French cause 'The Light.' Our alliance today comes
about because we have learned more, both about the Dark and about
our own history -- and because less than two years ago, the French
successfully attacked the Spanish group and destroyed Goddard
Eiseley, severing the machine's stranglehold on the world. In order
to do this it was necessary to fill the vacuum of power -- to put one
of our own on the throne of the King of Fate.
"Most of the folks you have met, that you call the Spanish, are in fact
our own folks -- soldiers for the Light that work closely with the
Spanish team, and have become accustomed to the Spanish ways.
Even Theo was for years a French loyalist -- now he leads the
Spanish. With that role, however, comes a huge legacy -- something
of the will, and designs, and even memories and purposes of Eiseley
and his predecessors now lives within Theo. It has changed him, and
not for the better. I fear for him. Frankly, I fear sometimes that he
plans to rebuild the machine, or something like it, and start the tragedy
again -- because it is a proven stratagem that has been used before.
"Are they evil? Shady? Certainly they do not shun evil. They will
tell you that survival -- victory -- is all that matters; I do not agree.
Sometimes the price for victory is not measured in lives or land,
but in less tangible things like happiness or the good of the soul.
"Yet we cannot afford to shun them. Keep your friends close
and your enemies closer, as the saying goes ... especially when
they are the same people, hmm? Even if it hurts to see those
you love dipping into the darkness. Even when you know you
may have to do so yourself.
"This is not an easy task we do."
REDLAND
"My thoughts are scattering in several directions, but let me try to keep them contained...
"When you say that Tibet is the only location with information on negotiation, does this include information the Spanish might possess? Would the Spanish be willing to assist (or would we even want their assistance?)
"You had mentioned that as the King of Life, you had the, er, 'coin of the realm' and, hence, the ability to bargain with the Outside. Does the King of Fate possess similar bargaining ability?
"I recall you saying that the arrival of the old 'gods' in some countries has made it difficult for Outsiders to gain entry in those locations. Would the great Machine possess this same property? That is, did the Machine exert such a strong influence of its reality that it made locations where it held sway impervious to penetration? If so, might it be reasonable to reconstruct this machine, only with a fatal weakness, unknown to it, that we could exploit once the time of crisis has passed?
"If what I'm given to understand of the Outside is correct, I may agree with the idea that it is proper to use any means necessary to defeat them... even if I am unwilling to employ those means myself. However, I fear that when people indicate that something should be done at any cost, (particularly pragmatists), they forget that there may be multiple ways of arriving at a solution. The ends may justify the means, but rarely do evil means lead to anything but evil ends..."
CARL
"I fear the Machine." Carl looks up, stark and grim. "It is the closest thing I have ever seen to absolute power without recourse or controls ... and it comes with its own agendas -- ones we canot hope to know. We are so desperately lucky to have shut it down once! i do not think we would ever be given another chance to do it again.
"An honest attempt to re-establish the machine would be disastrous. Theo knows this -- but he turns the possibility over and over in his hands. He has the capacity -- but even he does not know what he would birth in doing so.
"God, man!" He shakes his head. "Don't even suggest it. We are not expert enough to add 'secret weaknesses,' even if it were possible. We just do not know enough. Some things ought to be left alone. Forever. Otherwise, the world we save will never be ours."
He stirs, takes a deep breath, lets it out.
"Tibet is not the only place to learn about negotiation. There is another source -- a woman in France, we will meet her soon. She is one of my teachers; she can perhaps give us both advice. Perhaps.
"The King of Fate probably has the right to negotiate, even as I do. Certainly he can. The question is one of price; what is he -- or am I -- willing to pay?"
