proceed to new world (do not ask questions, do not collect delightful prizes)

[space_between]

Here is a young woman curled up on a bed, shivering, having thrown off her blankets when she woke earlier.

She is asleep. For now.

Comments

[shadopolis]

"They are common enough to be seen in every house and building. I do not know how long they remain, or what the top ten causes of death in the new world are."

[space_between]

Hm. "Are there causes of death in that world that do not occur in this one, or ones that are much more common than here?"

[shadopolis]

"Yes, of course, it is a different world."

[space_between]

"What are they?"

[shadopolis]

"I don't know."

[space_between]

"What do you know about the differing causes of death?"

[shadopolis]

"The vast majority of them are due to differences in technology and magic between my world and yours."

[space_between]

"What are the differences in technology and magic most relevant to the causes of death?"

[shadopolis]

"Most devices that run wholly on technology in your world run at least partially on magic in the new. Therefore, magical accidents are infinitely more commonplace."

[space_between]

"How does that statistic compare to technological accidents in this world? How difficult are magical accidents to avoid by being careful and taking precautions?"

[shadopolis]

"Approximately equal. Not any more difficult than avoiding industrial accidents in your world, I would expect."

[space_between]

"Very well. What precautions, other than completely avoiding industrial sites, are most likely to prevent death from that source? What is the next most relevant difference to increased causes of death?"

[shadopolis]

"I'm not required to answer those questions. We are drifting from the Choice."

[space_between]

"What do the dead look like? --It's relevant to what defences I need, but very well."

[shadopolis]

"People, still bearing the wounds of whatever killed them."

[space_between]

Mm. Unpleasant, but she's seen worse.

"How precisely does the command work? --Are the dead sapient?"

[shadopolis]

"You may make pacts with the dead that last up to twelve hours. They are as sapient as they were when they were alive."

[space_between]

"What do the pacts do? Can I communicate with the dead without making them and using that once-per-day -- it was once per day, correct? -- charge? --Do non-sapients leave ghosts too? For that matter, do all sapient deaths leave ghosts?"

[shadopolis]

"They bind them to your service for the next twelve hours. Yes. No. No."

[space_between]

"So the only thing the pacts do better than mundanely getting the ghost's cooperation is to enforce it for that period?" Which is not totally useless but-- "Can they retaliate once that period is over? If so, does that frequently occur? Pacts frequently involve some kind of exchange; would the ghost get anything from me?"

[shadopolis]

"Yes, yes, no, possibly."

[space_between]

"Why do they not frequently retaliate? What do you mean by 'possibly', in more detail?"