Sample polling?

Chiana

"Uh, he said he knows how to get rid of 'em..." Crichton says to Betty.

"Oh-kay," Ragan (from the side) drawls slowly, looking over at Betty. "I take it involves you finding the ghost dead bodies and severing the link between the undead spirits and body. Either by performing a proper funeral ceremony of some type or by burning the bodies?"

John blinks, surprised.

"I though you said that they couldn't understand you," he says, looking back at the others, who shoot back that all the translator microbes had indeed failed so....

Something else must have taken place so John turns back and then tilts his head a little bit.

"You've done this before, haven't you." he asks, looking speculatively back and forth between. "Whatever let you do . . . . whatever you did with Chiana . . . "

"Which one?" I purr a bit, unable to resist throwing a little confusion into this mix. Apparently my analog "sister" had a similar idea because she'd said the same thing.

At the same time.

Frell, that's weird! I mean. . . . my Sigin had explained (at length) all about "dopplegangers" and how some kind of . . . . check went on for want of a better frellin' word and you loved or hated the nixa. He'd done onto tell how the legend of dopplegangers came about and just why (his theory) it seemed the "instant hatred" was, on his world (and so many other worlds) because once a person (either through spell scrying or some other arcane means) saw into the other's world (and saw his or her twin), the viewer would be so consumed with wanting to "frag" the mirror image that any means of gaining entrance to do that deed were deemed acceptable....

....

Those means usually meant contracts signed in blood for the sale of souls. Apparently the "Department of Evil" as Betty named it had a big business from fools like that, who were consumed with hatred. Bet those Demons even laughed when, soon after the "signee" had killed his duplicate, expired on the spot (alone and out of sight, from all legends). Hey, guess the frellers weren't too keen on reading the fine print of the contracts....

.....

Look, I still don't know what to make of all of what I got from my private talk with the Rules and Agents right before they changed. . . . me. Maybe I'll never totally understand it all and just what the "Dark Tower" and the Celestrials mean in the "Big Picture". By no stretch of the imagination before all this could you call me "religious" (unless, of course, you could say I believed in the dieties of "luck" and "fun"). I didn't, really and wouldn't even joke about it with non-Nebari ( or Nebari) about that.

.....

For some like Zhaan it seemed to settle their questions....

Me?

Well, I'm not . . . certain about anything, now. Never had given it much thought (or cared to give it much thought). But I'm giving it thought now! Don't think I'll ever get like Zhaan (with some of that seemingly useless chanting and praying at the wrong times after we'd finished up with the Company), but.... Give it thought and trying to at least get some sampling of the various religions before I decide on what course to take, and what to believe.

Might even go the route of believing in no religioun, like Betty and Ragan. After all, it had seemed absurd, when my mate retold me about it! Really! How that Celestrial business had stopped everything (re: 8997) over ten cy....years ago was just fahrbot!

Maybe I should follow Betty's example and try to not think overly much about what it all means. But then again she did say that one had to decide for one's self and after meeting the Celestrials. . . .

Such things can give you pause . . . .

Even MORE so than those ghosts, really, for me! The ghost scared me almost grotless, but when I first met those Rules and Agents!....

Can even give me pause. Wonder if any of the other folks from this universe had any kind of similar. . . . otherworldly events happen to them?

......

You know, maybe I should also talk with the spiritual types of this reality instead of just sticking with those beliefs within Eternity Inc. You know, like Stark here . . . and this universe's Zhaan (if she's here somewhere).....

You'd think that if her analog existed here and had hooked up with Moya she'd shown her blue face by now.....

Wonder if....

Ah, but I'll ask (carefully) later. Who knows what the answer will be if I ask!

Might just go and ask about this strange old woman who . . . is rather rank and why she's giving Stark some kind of potion. Well....Stark was beginning to look like whatever had gotten him roused up so much was fading fast now and he'd fall asleep, standing up!

....

Ah, nevermind about asking about religious beliefs! That and that other dren will wait for now! If I go down that road might as well go and quiz the entire frellin' universe. Chiana, just stick with a smaller sampling like what we have in the Champions back on Terra Prime. Have to narrow my choices down somehow and that's as good of method as any!

All this goes through my mind (amazing eh?) as I smile back at my sister (who's looking like she has a few hundred questions she's lookin' for answers for) when Betty answers John's question.

1. "Not really," Betty says slowly. "It's more like what we learned from lectures while learning magic."

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