My feedback is going to be short this time, Terry, but I thought this part was great. It is not so much
what you told us as
how you told it that was so very good, because I think most of us had already guessed that Bob would inform Lois and Clark that they were soulmates. But as I said, it was the
how of the narrative that was brilliant. Here are a few examples of what I loved:
“Hello? Bob?”
>>> Hello. You need not speak aloud if you do not wish to do so. <<<
Okay. Uh, hi. You must be Bob.
So that's how you speak to Bob.
>>> Very well. Would you first introduce yourself to me? <<<
Lois Lane.
>>> <<<
Uh, Bob? Bob? Where did you go?
So that's what it 'sounds' like when Bob doesn't answer! That's brilliant!
There were no boards nailed to the trunk, no thin railings around the edges of the platform, no signs warning girls to keep away
I used to think there
was a sign warning girls to keep away! But I like it better if there wasn't.
“I haven't even told you about Rebecca, have I?”
“No, you haven't. Is she involved in this somehow?”
“Yes. No. I don't know!” He lifted his arms and turned aimlessly in a circle. “She's Lois's friend and I met her the other night at a party Lois took me to and I danced with Rebecca last night at the White Orchid Ball and it was a lot of fun and Lois danced a lot with Lex and she really liked it and I have no idea what I'm even talking about!”
I love his way of telling Martha about Rebecca and Lex!
“Of course, Clark. Have a nice flight. And tell Lois that she's welcome here any time.”
He stopped and gave her a hard look. “Even if Dad's here?”
She matched his stare. “Yes. Even if your father is here.” She held his gaze for a moment longer, then shooed him up the ladder with her hands. “Now go! And call me if you need anything.”
He smiled slightly. “Thanks, Mom. I'll tell her.”
I'm so glad that Martha won't allow Jonathan to keep Lois away from the Kent farm.
The very nature of the link disturbed her. Bob had told them that such a bond was rare among Kryptonians. Perhaps one pair out of five thousand might be linked in this fashion.
Wow!! The link is that rare!!!
It also enabled them to speak to each other with lightning speed. Bob had told them that proximity would assist them in such communication, but distance would not preclude them from contacting each other. The closer they were, the faster and more accurate the exchanges became. There were warrior couples and pairs in ancient Kryptonian history and legend who were almost unbeatable because of the link.
There is something reassuring about this. If Lois needs Clark's help - which she almost certainly will if she really gets involved with Lex - she can call for help. But she should also be able to warn Clark off telepathically if Lex has set a trap for him.
But there were drawbacks. If one partner was decidedly less ethical than the other, the bond would exacerbate the conflict inherent in such a relationship. If one partner had criminal tendencies and the other did not, for example, the conflict between them would be distracting at best and psychosis-inducing at worst. Both parties would be at risk in such an uneven relationship.
Hmmmmm. Interesting. I think you have hinted, Terry, that Lois is so much more flawed than Clark. (I don't necessarily agree with you, mind, but this is your story and you call the shots.) So is your Lois going to be considerably less ethical than Clark, too? And if so, how will that affect Clark?
And the bond conducted everything, not just what one chose to send. Pleasure, fear, pain, excitement, terror, all flowed both ways unless one partner deliberately shut down the link. Shutting down the link involved mental effort, and reopening the link also involved deliberate effort. Lois envisioned it as if she were turning off a valve with a very large and stiff wheel in her mind. Even when it was shut down, extreme emotional states might still leak through. And there was no way to lie, to deceive, to hedge the truth, or even to tell a partial truth designed to mislead when communicating through the bond.
Wow. Fascinating.
Such closeness would enhance a romantic relationship, of course, but if the pair had little or no romantic interest in each other, the link would conduct the intimate experiences of one to the other unless strict mental disciplines were applied consistently.
Now
that would be awkward!
Not only that, but as time passed, the two minds would slowly become attuned to each other, so much so that when one partner died, the other would often also die within hours.
Wow!!!!
That was when Lois had asked how Bob to sever the link, and Bob had replied that Kryptonians rarely tried, not only because such a relationship was highly prized in that society, but because the separation procedure's success rate was very low. Both parties had to be sincere in their desire to separate, both had to be secure in their own identities and not overly dependent on the other for either emotional support or intellectual undergirding, and both had to have reasons which the ruling council would consider valid.
The problem was that Bob had no data on whether a Kryptonian-human link could be severed successfully. Trying to separate them, even at this early stage, might mentally incapacitate one or both of them, assuming they survived the attempt.
There is no getting away from this, Lois!
She felt him touch her mind. -* Lois? *-
She answered aloud, “No, Clark. Verbal communication. I don't think I can handle a mental conversation with you right now.”
Nope. She isn't happy about it.
“I'm sorry.”
She looked him in the eye. “Did you do this to me on purpose?”
“You know I didn't.”
“Then you don't need to apologize. We'll just have to make the best of it.”
At least she isn't blaming him.
She tried a small grin. “Who knows, it might even come in handy someday.”
You can bet your boots and your little fishies that it will, Lois!!
Well, wow! This wasn't very short after all. Well, it was an absolutely fascinating chapter, Terry.
Ann
