Hive Minds Give Good Hugs by Natalie Maher & Thundamoo

Author:Natalie Maher & Thundamoo [Maher, Natalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Science Fiction / Alien Contact, FICTION / Psychological, FICTION / Romance / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian, Science Fiction, Science fiction: aliens / UFOs, Metaphysical / philosophical fiction, Romance, Relating to lesbians, Narrative theme: Social issues, Narrative theme: Politics
Published: 2022-07-08T04:00:00+00:00

29 Avoiding Disaster

“Explain,” Chlrehistra hisses, and not just in the usual Sthrenslian way.

Shit, I’m so incredibly bad at talking to people. I did not think about how Hsthressis technically sort of being a living horcrux might come off as, uh, freaky black magic, I guess. Okay, now that I am thinking about it it seems really obvious, but I can beat myself up over it later.

“Ch-chieftain Chlrehistra, I… I promise that my motivations were entirely and completely focused on saving your daughter. But I—”

“It doesn’t matter what the motivations are,” Talrissark grunts. “What matters are the facts.”

“Talrissark, if you interrupt anyone in this room again you will be dismissed,” Chlrehistra snaps. “Am I understood?”

“…You are, chieftain.”

“Good. Explain, Ambassador Evelyn.”

“I, um,” I stutter and stammer for a bit before actually managing to catch hold of any words. “I… okay. So basically, I had two imperfect ways to bring… er, to heal Hsthressis. She sort of… existed inside of me, and I didn’t really understand that until I looked for her. But then I found her and I just don’t have a good way to get her… out of me, I guess?”

“Go on,” Chlrehistra says coldly.

I take a deep breath, knowing that I probably already dug myself in too deep. Just ever so slightly, I give into the temptation to wipe my own anxiety away, clear my head, and try to actually think about a way out of this.

“…So, you have a word in your language that, in my language, is two very different words. When you say soul, in my head I am confused because I don’t know if you’re referring to ‘mind’ or ‘spirit.’ The mind is your thoughts, your emotions, your feelings, your reason, your memories. It is the tangible, demonstrable aspect of who you are. You can prove, at least to yourself, that you have a mind… in fact, it’s impossible for you to disprove that you have a mind because doing so would require the use of your mind. But the spirit is something more than that. The spirit is the parts of you that do not act on the world, the parts of you that are not held within your physical body. A spirit passes to the afterlife on death, a spirit is metaphysical, ephemeral. It cannot be seen or felt or demonstrated. And this distinction between the two aspects of a soul is important, because I know exactly where Hsthressis’ mind is, but I know nothing about her spirit. I don’t know if separating her from me would be safe.”

I am, of course, leaving out all the parts where I don’t think ‘spirits’ even exist at all. That’s a problem for later. For now, it’s a decent enough philosophical shorthand for the continuity of self.

“But you would do it if you knew it was,” Chlrehistra presses.

“Of course I would,” I say. “I mean, I absolutely can separate her from myself. I can do it right now. But I talked with Hsthressis about it, and both of us are leery on what it would do to her soul.

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