<Since you won't discuss it with Nafai, I woke Chveya to hear what you were saying. She'll bring it up with him.>
Why couldn't you just talk to him yourself?
<He won't listen to me,>
That's because he's a very wise man. That's why I love him.
<He needs another perspective. You would have been best. Chveya will do.>
You leave my children alone.
<Your children are people in their own right. When you were Chveya's age, you already were known as the Waterseer of Basilica. I didn't notice you complaining that I had such a relationship with you then. And when Chveya first started getting dreams from the Keeper of Earth, I seem to recall that you rejoiced.>
"And to think I once thought of you as ... as a god."
<And what do you think I am now?>
"If I didn't know you were a computer program, I'd say you were a meddlesome, loathsome old bitch."
<You can be angry at me if you like. It doesn't hurt my feelings I even understand. But you have to take the long view, Luet. I do.>
"Yes, your view is so long that you hardly notice how you ruin the lives of little mayflies like us."
<Has your life been so terrible up to now?>
"Let's just say that it hasn't gone as expected."
<But has it been so terrible?>
"Shut up and leave me alone."
Luet threw herself back down on the bed and tried to sleep. But she kept remembering: Hushidh saw that I am no longer connected to the others in the community. That means that somewhere in my heart I already have the unconscious intention of doing what the Over-soul has planned. So I might as well give up and do it consciously.
Do it and then spend the rest of my life knowing that my sister and Aunt Rasa and dear Shedemei all hate me and that I absolutely, completely deserve their hatred.