Wherein excitement builds (Ch. 9)
“The comet will come again. Perhaps not to the same sky, dear Lin, but it cannot help but be the same comet. And I don’t know whether to despair my uselessness in stopping it or bask in the terrible glory I know it must bring.” Excerpt from the Deathbed Clarities of Jin, the litany of days to come, second standard edition. “There were times that demanded much of us. Times of true sorrow, true hardship, times that all seemed to be falling apart faster than any could keep track. But these are not such times, and anyone who tells you they are, is either trying to sell you something, or is being defensively pessimistic. Oh, there are schisms and there are debates, there are wars and there are perhaps even famines. Horror of horrors, there may even be moral failings! But the prophecies are not in danger. Recent foretelling is not erratic in frequency, nor does it hint at any great coming disaster. It’s confusing and messy because the world is confusing and messy. It’s only when the worl