Powers for All

The fourth kanji is the signs for "Heavy" and "Brute" but altered, so that its meaning is not a simple combination of the two but something which could be compared to both, as "truth" is both "sweet" and "eternal" but is neither sweetness nor eternity.

The fifth symbol combines the ideograms for "sun" and "mountain" in a way which suggests they are not to be taken literally. "Sun" symbolizes clarity, enlightenment, even truth, while "mountain" is the traditional way to imply "far away". So the power of sending the truth far away? That might be useful, if it were the power to deceive (banishing truth) or cause forgetfulness (another sense of banishing truth) or invisibility (sending clear sight far away) or ...

Belle says, "I'd love to be a Crackler, it goes so well with weatherman."

Christine says, "Crackler for Miss Belle!" and makes a hand gesture, transferring the symbol over to Belle from across the room.

Belle sees the electrical map of the room spring into being, radiating outward from her as her perceptions open. People are dull flickering glows, like clouds lit by distant lightning. Wires are strobing lines, and batteries pools of radiance. The sky overhead is a complicated whirlpool of colliding forces; she can see this even though there's a roof overhead.

And Belle herself, in her own eyes, is a virtually opaque statue of energy. She has as much lightning at her fingertips as a whole thunderstorm. And there are currents of potential drifting through the air, like cigarette smoke, which can easily conduct that power into anything she pleases.

Oops. The lamp can be replaced.

Janet says to Christine, "I would like to try the Beastie."

Christine says, "This one? You got it!"

She deals with both hands, and the odd symbol expands in Janet's vision until it seems to rush past her on all sides.

The passage is cold and sudden, and leaves a lingering buzz ... which sounds like a roomful, a houseful, no, perhaps a convention full of people, all talking at once. And no one's listening.

Janet can pick out voices from the hubbub, with a little effort. Some are chittering about winter and whether they've hidden their food well enough; others patiently bite another mouthful of rich, moist earth and squirm another inch forward; others use their eyes, and see everything in glasslike clarity, moving in slow motion, from a viewpoint just below the clouds.

Each thinks of itself as Me, but Janet can tell from context that some are squirrels, some worms, some birds, and some are fish, although the fish don't think of themselves as wet, which makes it a little longer to grasp.

If Janet focuses more intently, she can see through a hawk's eyes, steering it where she wants to look. It' s harder with the cat on the barn roof, because she doesn't use her eyes as much as her nose. Janet's not used to constructing her mental map out of odors.

Fortunately, Cherryblossom (the cat's name) does know how to do so. And once Janet forms her preference, Cherryblossom hurries to carry it out, as though it were her own idea.