Read Online The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories by Walter Jon Williams - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Walter Jon Williams
Tags: Science-Fiction
Ads: Link
affect, one he no doubt used on his patients, quietly insistent without being officious. A voice that made suggestions, or presented alternatives, but which never, ever, gave orders.
"I don't want that," Davout said.
Silent Davout's fingers were still set in. "You are not of the generation that accepts such things as a matter of course," he said. "But this, this modular approach to memory, to being, constitutes much of my work these days."
Davout looked at him. "It must be like losing a piece of yourself, to give up a memory. Memories are what make you."
Silent Davout's face remained impassive as his deep voice sounded through the void between them. "What forms a human psyche is not a memory, we have come to believe, but a pattern of thought. When our sib duplicated himself, he duplicated his pattern in us; and when we assembled new bodies to live in, the pattern did not change. Have you felt yourself a different person when you took a new body?"
Davout passed a hand over his head, felt the fine blond hair covering his scalp. This time yesterday, his head had been bald and leathery. Now he felt subtle differences in his perceptionsâhis vision was more acute, his hearing less soâand his muscle memory was somewhat askew. He remembered having a shorter reach, a slightly different center of gravity.
But as for himself , his essenceâno, he felt himself unchanged. He was still Davout.
he signed.
"People have more choices than ever before," said Silent Davout. "They choose their bodies, they choose their memories. They can upload new knowledge, new skills. If they feel a lack of confidence, or feel that their behavior is too impulsive, they can tweak their body chemistry to produce a different effect. If they find themselves the victim of an unfortunate or destructive compulsion, the compulsion can be edited from their being. If they lack the power to change their circumstances, they can at least elect to feel happier about them. If a memory cannot be overcome, it can be eliminated."
"And you now spend your time dealing with these problems?" Davout asked.
"They are not problems ," his sib said gently. "They are not syndromes or neuroses . They are circumstances. They are part of the condition of life as it exists today. They are environmental." The large, impassive eyes gazed steadily at Davout. "People choose happiness over sorrow, fulfillment over frustration. Can you blame them?"
Davout signed. "If they deny the evidence of their own lives," he said. "We define our existence by the challenges we overcome, or those we don't. Even our tragedies define us."
His sib nodded. "That is an admirable philosophyâfor Davout the Conqueror. But not all people are conquerors."
Davout strove to keep the impatience from his voice. "Lessons are learned from failures as well as successes. Experience is gained, life's knowledge is applied to subsequent occurrence. If we deny the uses of experience, what is there to make us human?"
His sib was patient. "Sometimes the experiences are negative, and so are the lessons. Would you have a person live forever under the shadow of great guilt, say for a foolish mistake that resulted in injury or death to someone else; or would you have them live with the consequences of damage inflicted by a sociopath, or an abusive family member? Traumas like these can cripple the whole being. Why should the damage not be repaired?"
Davout smiled thinly. "You can't tell me that these techniques are used only in cases of deep trauma," he said. "You can't tell me that people aren't using these techniques for reasons that might be deemed trivial. Editing out a foolish remark made at a party, or eliminating a bad vacation or an argument with the spouse."
Silent Davout returned his smile. "I would not insult your intelligence by suggesting these things do not happen."
Davout signed. "So how do such people mature? Change? Grow in wisdom?"
"They cannot edit out
"I don't want that," Davout said.
Silent Davout's fingers were still set in
Davout looked at him. "It must be like losing a piece of yourself, to give up a memory. Memories are what make you."
Silent Davout's face remained impassive as his deep voice sounded through the void between them. "What forms a human psyche is not a memory, we have come to believe, but a pattern of thought. When our sib duplicated himself, he duplicated his pattern in us; and when we assembled new bodies to live in, the pattern did not change. Have you felt yourself a different person when you took a new body?"
Davout passed a hand over his head, felt the fine blond hair covering his scalp. This time yesterday, his head had been bald and leathery. Now he felt subtle differences in his perceptionsâhis vision was more acute, his hearing less soâand his muscle memory was somewhat askew. He remembered having a shorter reach, a slightly different center of gravity.
But as for himself , his essenceâno, he felt himself unchanged. He was still Davout.
"People have more choices than ever before," said Silent Davout. "They choose their bodies, they choose their memories. They can upload new knowledge, new skills. If they feel a lack of confidence, or feel that their behavior is too impulsive, they can tweak their body chemistry to produce a different effect. If they find themselves the victim of an unfortunate or destructive compulsion, the compulsion can be edited from their being. If they lack the power to change their circumstances, they can at least elect to feel happier about them. If a memory cannot be overcome, it can be eliminated."
"And you now spend your time dealing with these problems?" Davout asked.
"They are not problems ," his sib said gently. "They are not syndromes or neuroses . They are circumstances. They are part of the condition of life as it exists today. They are environmental." The large, impassive eyes gazed steadily at Davout. "People choose happiness over sorrow, fulfillment over frustration. Can you blame them?"
His sib nodded. "That is an admirable philosophyâfor Davout the Conqueror. But not all people are conquerors."
Davout strove to keep the impatience from his voice. "Lessons are learned from failures as well as successes. Experience is gained, life's knowledge is applied to subsequent occurrence. If we deny the uses of experience, what is there to make us human?"
His sib was patient. "Sometimes the experiences are negative, and so are the lessons. Would you have a person live forever under the shadow of great guilt, say for a foolish mistake that resulted in injury or death to someone else; or would you have them live with the consequences of damage inflicted by a sociopath, or an abusive family member? Traumas like these can cripple the whole being. Why should the damage not be repaired?"
Davout smiled thinly. "You can't tell me that these techniques are used only in cases of deep trauma," he said. "You can't tell me that people aren't using these techniques for reasons that might be deemed trivial. Editing out a foolish remark made at a party, or eliminating a bad vacation or an argument with the spouse."
Silent Davout returned his smile. "I would not insult your intelligence by suggesting these things do not happen."
"They cannot edit out
Similar Books
Sexy Gay Stories - Volume Four - three m/m short stories
Michael Bracken, Elizabeth Coldwell, Sommer Marsden
