BEg2 ch32 refs

[Michael Bailey]

“So he’s working in ‘D.C. now,’ as Martha and the Vandellas might say.

Short context-free quote, on the order of “Jesus wept.” (-;

https://youtu.be/68Uv959QuCg




“No idea of how to step outside her own history of safe choices and dowse
her way across the desert of this precarious hour, hoping to find what?
some refuge, some American DeepArcher . . .”

Apparently she’s taken with the idea of DeepArcher.

Some of it may be that frontier feeling. But frontiers aren’t notable for
refugium - quite the opposite.

The DeepArcher experience gives a user a feeling of being in a
preprogrammed environment with benevolent programmers allowing the
excitement - but the excitement of discovering things put there for the
user to discover.

While the likes of Ice and Windust are arranging things in meatspace
without benevolence.

Is the distinction between choices a distinction between cyber- and
meatspace? I think it’s more interesting to make a distinction between
rushing into dubious battle, and forming affinity groups.



She deprecates “The safe choices she’s made” such as running away from the
humanoid in the tunnel (“Air Jordans, don’t fail me now!”)?

But she’s exposed herself to more risk than most, in pursuing Reg’s
findings, meeting and befriending Slagiatt and Igor, going to hwgaahwgh in
person (and meeting Driscoll), taking the guided tour with Eric, and the
wine cellar foray with Randy

- is the safe choice she keeps making actually a good idea? - Fruits of
those safe choices being the common denominator of the friendships she
makes, the friends she’s sharing experiences with.

This seems like a Good Thing!

The less safe choices - which she thinks she’s shirked - are actually maybe
not that good of an idea to pursue, anyway. Confronting Ice and Windust at
all isn’t something a timid person would do. Battling them directly would
find her overmatched.

Maybe her innate good sense keeps her making those safe choices to engage
and work with friends rather than go at evil directly - and the
Manichaeanism implicit in her guilty qualms about not doing so is a false
guide, making her “safe choices” admirable rather than deplorable.


But she’s still drawn to DeepArcher - I see it as a learning environment
where she and many others can gain experience and skills while having many
lives to lose and win.