Hi.

I was reading part 4 of SoS, yesterday, and in the middle of the bru-ha-ha over Miki's missing notebook, we hear from Devlin that he's ransacked Lisa's dorm room and didn't find it.

However, we now know he's telepathic. Why didn't he just do a quick scan on Lisa, determine where the book came from, and let Miki know? The topic would probably have been on top of Lisa's mind anytime she walked past Miki, after all. I know he'd have trouble with people figuring out he's telepathic, but he could have found out, grabbed the book, and then anonymously mailed it to Miki.

I was just wondering...

-john, humorless toad
The difference between a violin and a viola is that a viola burns longer.
-Victor Borge

No, I think on 'top' of her mind would have been

a) classes
b) fiancee of the week
c) hee hee, isn't it fun what I'm doing to them!

I hardly think Liza is doing Magneto-class exposition on the top of her thoughts unless, of course, it's in a situation where she's watching things happen.

As I understand through reading the Psi Corps trilogy, anything more than a surface scan - listening to the ambient conversation, as it were - is noticable to the subject. (Please see 'Courtship of Princess Dessler' for a similiar indication of the nature of this.)

But still, really, I can't view Liza Broadbank's mind in the cafeteria being, "Ah, now that I have his notebook in my desk in the studen council office, I can do all sorts of things to him! Ha ha ha!"

More like, "What the HELL is the stuff, I can't beLIEve that my father sent me HERE just because of that Hutchins bitch, now I have to go study, then figure out what Chuck's going to give me next..."

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
Haberdasher to Androids, Malakite of Lightning and Angel of Tech Support Professionals
(They won't give me LARTs, they say that's restricted to Michael.)

>As I understand through reading the Psi Corps trilogy, anything more
>than a surface scan - listening to the ambient conversation, as it
>were - is noticable to the subject. (Please see 'Courtship of
>Princess Dessler' for a similiar indication of the nature of this.)

Well... first things first. DO NOT assume that telepathy in UF operates in precisely the same way that it does in B5 -- and that goes triple for anything that's only established in the novels, which Gryph hasn't read. (You can, however, assume that the EA's laws governing its use are the same.) Most everything imported into UF has received tweaks to make it fit better, and this is no exception.

As for your specific presumption... no, most normals can't detect a scan. (Deep scans are another matter -- those are usually forceful enough to physically hurt.) But that's not to say that it's completely unheard of... and even if Devlin was willing to take that chance once in a while, Liza is about the last person on campus he'd want to find out.

Now, if Miki's life had been in danger, that might have been a different story.

--truss.

>Now, if Miki's life had been in danger, that might have been a
>different story.

I suppose that it also might be that Devlin, being a decent sort, despite his various scoundrel-esque tendencies, would not do that to someone simply because that would be something that the PsiCorps would do. It just wouldn't be cricket, as he might say.

Ebony the Black Dragon
aka Draco Draconis Ebenium
known to Earthdome as Aaron F. Johnson,
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com

>However, we now know he's telepathic. Why didn't he just do a quick
>scan on Lisa, determine where the book came from, and let Miki know?

Um... because Devlin has ethics?

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>However, we now know he's telepathic. Why didn't he just do a quick
>scan on Lisa, determine where the book came from, and let Miki know?

>-john, humorless toad

AFAIK, telepathic reading is considered a deep personal violation, a mind-rape. Broadbank's level of bitchiness simply doesn't warrant that sort of thing.

--rR

>AFAIK, telepathic reading is considered a deep personal violation, a
>mind-rape. Broadbank's level of bitchiness simply doesn't warrant
>that sort of thing.
>
> --rR

That.. And the fact it's a one way trip to the Psi Corps for him. A fate that seems like it's worse than alot of other fates.

-Malis out