Ask, and Ye Shall Know....

[Estelore]

This is loosely based on something that I read in the book The Snow Queen, by Joan D. Vinge.
Background information: Sybils are humans whose minds have become genetically linked to a massive supercomputer, in preparation for the end of Life on Earth as We Know It. Ask one a question, and whether or not SHE knows the answer, she can still tell you.
Of course, their rather primitive lifestyles, resulting from this big cataclysm, do not include the knowledge of what a computer IS, much less genetics and eugenics.
It is believed by these people that Sybils are insane, driven mad by a contagious disease that is spread by contact with their blood. In fact, the genetic quirk that gives them their abilities IS carried in the blood, much like an STD.
It is a capital crime to kill a Sybil, because her blood would contaminate anyone nearby.
As the old ones say, it is death to kill a Sybil, death to love a Sybil, death to be a Sybil.
Sybils are also called Oracles, Augurs, Pythians, and many things besides.
I don't have time to write it now, but I wanted my idea to be loosely drafted, for later use.

[Estelore]

"Input." I yawned.
"What medicinal plants can be obtained in this immediate vicinity?"
My mind drifted away, floating across the broad fields of the countryside. I lingered in a hazy dream-world, dancing on young grass.
"Input."
"How can Swamp Mallow be used?"
I crossed the wide meadow in my mind, entering a dark glade, crossed by a murky brook. I reached down and plucked up a plant, roots and all, smelling the purplish blossoms.
"No Further Analysis!"

I snapped back into awareness of the Now. A thin, sad-looking man was standing next to me, holding a fistful of Swamp Mallow in his hand.
"Did you Know what you needed, Sir?"
"I did, Sybil."
"Will you Ask anything else of me?"
"No, Sybil. Go in peace."
"May peace linger with ye after I depart."

After mumbling the standard formalities, repeated so often by rote, I left the hut and its inhabitants, silently praying that the herbal cure would save the man's wife from the illness she had acquired by drinking bad water.

My name is Liete, and I am one of four hundred beings known as 'Sybils'. I Know things, without knowing how I Know them. It defines who I am, how I live, and how I will die.
This is my story.



(More when I have time and inspiration.)

[Estelore]

(Phew. I've delayed this for much too long. At some point, though, I'm going to have to stop and go eat lunch. Don't expect to see an ending for a loooong time, folks. Sorry. Also, expect to see a few nerdilicious puns showing up in unexpected places.)


It all started that very day, as I was walking back to our caves. I decided, for Sky knows what reason, to take an alternate route that day. A route through the Foothills, those large and rolling hills that led to the foot of the mountains, where are caves were located.
Just as I rounded the top of the third hill, a gleam of reflected light caught my eye.
Naturally, I headed towards the light.

A large, metallic object was lying in the narrow valley between two of the hills, and there was something...blue?...moving around the object.

Curious fool that I was, I instantly moved closer to see what was happening.

The blue creature had four legs with hooves, like a grazing animal, but it also had two arms, like a human.
Its predominant feature, however, was the long, muscular tail, with a deadly-sharp blade at the end.

It had four eyes, with two of its eyes on tall stalks on the top of its head, like horns, almost. The creature had no mouth, and I wondered how it could eat.
I wondered, also, how it could communicate.

Then, I found THAT out quite suddenly.

<Who is there? Show yourself!>

"Ahhh!"

The voice filled my mind, and I shrieked in surprise.
The creature turned to face me, pointing some strange device at me.

<Come down here where I can see you. Keep your hands visible.>

"What...Who are you?" I didn't know what the device was, but it looked strange enough for me not to trust it. I stepped carefully into view, with my hands in the air.

< I am Irillan-Koriseth-Farad. My ship has blown five of its major capacitors, and I need replacements before I can leave this planet. I am an Andalite, and I mean you no harm. Who are you?>

"My name is Liete Palantira, I'm a human, and I am a Sybil."

-----
From the Ship's Log of the Starglow, input by Irillan-Koriseth-Farad

<What is a Sybil? Also, what do you call your planet?> I asked the strange biped. She gave the word a different significance than she had given to the word 'human', which I understood to mean her species. My translator chip knew no meaning to the word 'sybil', although it understood the rest perfectly.

"A Sybil is an answerer-of-questions and a keeper-of-knowledge for our people. This world is called Tiamat, and we are in the Summer region."


(More when I feel like it.)