From: Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 22:57:31 EDT Subject: AOLi *** On the other side of the door, none too pleased at being saddled with not one, but TWO jiy (who had given her nothign but pain and trouble and confusion since coming to this godforsaken backwards city), Teri tried to swallow her almost immediate frustration and rage, settling instead for a swift kick to the door. IOne Jiy flared white as she cursed in pain-- she bit back her oath and looked at the Jii in her hand. She frowned and hurled them at the wall-- They floated in the air before her. She blinked. Shinji, who had turned around and was watching her (Roland was tapping his foot impatiently behind him), chuckled. The Jiy went black, then lightened to a rose color as she smiled. " I hate these things," she mumbled, and set off towards the two men. Roland still frowned, turned, and silently led the way out. Shinji took up the rear, dodging as the Jii rushed to hover by Teri's shoulders. He was about to respond when his face drained of color. One of the Jiy was clear. *** Teri looked at the swirly globe that danced by her ear and smiled in spite of herself. It whirred so softly she was sure only she would hear it. She lifted a hand to it, and it floated the few inches to contact with her skin. Awed, she rolled it along her fingers, watching the colors (mostly rose, with a few analogous colors swirling in a light, milky mess) and felt the small warm shock of its touch. *A sentient being?* she thought. *How could a mass of mage-created glass hold a living thing?* She remembered that Shinji had mentioned "half-sentient", and that they were mage-created... but the T'Aoli had said that they shunned magic. Yet the Jiy were their creation. How strange... She dropped her hand from the Jiy, and it floated back to her shoulder. She looked for the other one, also a gift from the T'aoli... and saw it, aloof, a few feet away. She reached out a hand, but it didn't drift towards her as the other one had. "Do these things have personalities?" She said to SHinji without turning her head. She watched the clear globe. Roland turned to look, and his gaze snapped to the Jiy. Shinji shook his head, but Teri felt the waft of negativity before he answered, "No... they don't have free will enough for personalities. But that one--" Roland looked at the Jiy, then back at Shinji. His gaze finally settled on Teri. She had so much power but so little control. So little focus. It was infuriating. "Is this something to be worried about, Shinji?" Roland asked from the arch to the main hall. "Yes." Teri turned to look at Shinji this time. "Worried? Why?" "Well-- they're not completely debugged, for one thing. Too many of them have been turning Red lately," he made the word red sound like the word rabid, "and.. well.. there are different types." He fairly emanated caution. Teri felt dizzy and pressed her fingers to her forehead. The jiy next to her shoulder whirred with more intensity. "Types?" she remembered him mentioning different colors for different actions-- something like that. She-- her eyes looked to the quiet clear globe, watching them. She looked back at Shinji. The red eye glistened for a moment, and he nodded in silent confirmation. A spy. She looked at it. "Well then, let's smash it," Roland said, tightening his grip on the staff and stepping closer. Shinji blocked him with his arm. Roland looked down at the arm, then at Shinji with a tight, arrogant smile. Shinji, however, wasn't looking at Roland. Roland's smile vanished, his lips nearly dissapearing into a thin, angry slash. Teri was still watching the Clear. She took a step closer to it, looked at the shiny surface-- for a moment the Clear ceased being transparent, instead reflecting Teri's face back at her. WIth a barely audible click, a shutter slipped down the inside of the globe, returning the surface once more to transparency. Teri tilted her head and reached her hand to the Jiy-- it reluctantly followed her fingers back close to her body. She felt a wave of protection towards the shiny ball, no larger than an orange. Roland cleared his throat in annoyance, and Shinji shook himself from his reverie. "Oh-- no. You can't just smash it like that... Jiy's are bonded to people, tied to them. That's how they get their half-sentient awareness. By connecting to a person, through magic, a bond of sorts, the Jiy can gather information and process it into a semblence of a small human. But..." "THe point? I can't smash it?" Roland sighed, annoyed. "Yeah-- no smashing. We dont' know who that Jiy is bonded to. If it's bonded to Teri, the backlash could.. well.. it wouldn't be pretty. Especially not in.. in her.." "Unstable state." Teri said this bladly, and coldly. Shinji blinked and didn't respond. Teri balanced the Clear on her hand. It shuttered once again, and she looked at her reflection. She smiled. Spy or no spy, the thing was growing on her... "But as a ... a.." (no one wanted to say spy directly) "Well... we just have to be careful." "Why would they be tracking us?" "Maybe to make sure we get to that woman..." Shinji and Roland exchanged glances over her head, but Teri didn't see as she continued to think aloud, "No.. more like they'd want to.." She looked up at Shinji. He seemed sad. She sighed, and let the Clear drift back to its original post. It wasn't hard to figure out.. Roland sighed. "It sounds like you two can handle this." Teri laughed. "Is the gunslinger afraid of a glass ball now?" Roland didn't reply. Shinji quietly said "He needs to leave now, Teri." Teri looked up in surprise at Roland. "What? Is he serious?" "Yes. Very perceptive Shinji." Shinji nodded. "But why?" "I saw that Teri was in trouble and my conscience forced me to help. And then I wanted to make sure that shehealed properly. Now she needs to learn to control this power and there's nothing I can do to help with that. And I have my own questions that need answering." Roland paused. This was the most talking he'd done since he showed up in this world. "Like why I'm here. What brought me here. And how to get home.... if I even want to go home. If there's a home left to go to. You of all people should understand THAT, Teri." "I guess so. I'll... nevermind. Goodbye." The gunslinger smiled. "I'll miss you too." He turned to Shinji. "Goodbye. Good luck." Shinji bowed. Thumbs in empty holsters the gunslinger turned and walked away. Teri and Shinji stood at the doorway to the AOL-i temple. bathed in sunlight, Teri watched Roland blend into and then dissapear into the crowd. "SHinji.. something's been nagging me..." Shinji looked at her. "What was the T'aoli's first name?" Shinji blinked. "Steve. why?" Teri burst out chuckling. "just curious."