There is something very wrong with Bren that, when he thinks he's going to die, he imagines being alone, away from work, his family, and his girlfriend, just alone. Maybe that's why he ends up so dependent on his aishid and his servants - they don't pull on his human emotions, so they make him feel safe?
And then he realizes he skis because it's dangerous, not because he's alone - but I still think he feels the need not to be around people, not to have their needs pulling at him, now that he's been around atevi, who just don't have the same emotional effect as humans do. That is really not good for a human who needs to interact with humans, which explains why he pretty much stops doing the mediate-between-sides thing after a while!
Also, it looks like Mospheirans believe that FTL involves time-dilation, but that doesn't appear to be the case in later books, or if it is, it's not very dramatic - Cajeiri returns about as much older as he would have been if he'd stayed, etc.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2011-06-20 11:07 pm (UTC)And then he realizes he skis because it's dangerous, not because he's alone - but I still think he feels the need not to be around people, not to have their needs pulling at him, now that he's been around atevi, who just don't have the same emotional effect as humans do. That is really not good for a human who needs to interact with humans, which explains why he pretty much stops doing the mediate-between-sides thing after a while!
Also, it looks like Mospheirans believe that FTL involves time-dilation, but that doesn't appear to be the case in later books, or if it is, it's not very dramatic - Cajeiri returns about as much older as he would have been if he'd stayed, etc.