Page 3706

“H-hold on a second here,” said Hector. “You’re saying that its problematic personality came from the Candle?”

Abbas was hardly listening, however, as he rubbed his brow. “Ugh, I’m already dreading what I’m going to see when I look at it again. If an entire personality has taken root in it, then I can only imagine what a mess the memory structure has become. I probably won’t even be able to make heads or tails of it for weeks...” Agh, or even longer, potentially. He hadn’t examined very many sentient objects before, but they were always absurdly complex. In the past, he’d tried referencing neurological maps as a point of comparison, but they never seemed to help much. The difference between a fully ardor-based mind and a human brain was simply too great, apparently.

But perhaps he should treat this as yet another opportunity to learn. With the Core being so portable, it could possibly serve him well as a point of comparison with similar objects. The Candle itself would obviously be the most convenient for that purpose, but given its intimate role in the Core’s creation, it would almost certainly be of limited use here. Their structures would probably be practically identical. In which case, it might be best to compare them for their differences rather than their similarities.

No, what he needed was a sentient object--preferably more than one--that had no ties to the Candle whatsoever. That would likely prove the most illuminating. But he couldn’t do that here, now could he? Such an endeavor would no doubt require--

“Lord Abbas,” came Hector’s voice, along with a forceful hand on his shoulder. “Can you hear me?” He sounded concerned.

Abbas saw the young man there, looking up at him. Apparently, he and Hector had both moved closer to the entrance of the tent. Ah. Abbas had always had a mildly troublesome habit of unconsciously pacing back and forth when brainstorming. “Apologies,” he said. “I was merely lost in thought. Nothing to worry about.”

‘I told you,’ said Worwal. ‘He is fine. He does that all the time. It’s not a side effect of anything.’

Hector pulled his hand back. “Okay, well... good. You just woke up, you know. You had me worried for a second.”

“Did I ignore an important question?” said Abbas, far from the first time in his life.

‘Yes,’ said Garovel. ‘Several, actually. He really does that all the time?’