Dead Star Dockyards

057 Gag Reflex

"-and as you speak, force the split through this portion of your throat here."Despite her self inflicted blindness, the Arboreal Maiden was able to locate the vocal cords of the two she was teaching with pinpoint accuracy. Even in spite of the way their upper bodies moved as they heaved and gagged from the unfamiliar sensation, she could pinch the location between her fingers in a way that made it seem as if they were standing perfectly still.

"But it -  - it feels so yucky!" Diana and Donovan had been working on this for the better part of four days. Diana in particular was struggling with the gagging it provoked.

From the start, they had  underestimated the level of difficulty involved with imbuing their voices with the universally translated qualities that split provided. Donovan thought he had a handle on how to move split around from his experiments post procedure, but what the Arboreal Maiden was making them do with it was far beyond what he thought he was capable of.

More than just shaping it, they had to move it about constantly at a consistent rate. Fortunately they didn't have to expel it from their body, only circulate it around the top of their throat as they speak, but granting it that flow had proven difficult. They had been practicing to improve their ability to manipulate split ever since the Maiden determined them ready, two whole days after the procedure.

They had spent five days in something of a crash-course on the basics, spending practically every waking moment learning in some way. Early mornings, just after waking up to eating breakfast, they were expected to strengthen their cores using the split the Great Csillacra left for them. Purification was not a burden with the stockpile that had been left, so it was fairly easy, but it was only the first part of their training. This did not diminish its importance though, the Arboreal Maiden describing their initial condition as little better than an impoverished child.

After that, they would be taught something akin to theory. She thought it would be of assistance to them as they lacked the experience and instinct necessary to figure the minutiae out on their own, but it was really more of a way to make their time spent resting productive. They could eat while she taught them, and their cores would usually become relaxed enough to be able to continue training. The Arboreal Maiden understood they could not afford to be injured at this vitally early stage in their development, so she tried her hardest not to overburden them to the point of damage.

She would still push them though.

"If you are gagging, then you are circulating too much. Try to make the flow thinner but keep it at the same rate, the speed it was going before you heaved was close to perfect Diana. If it helps, try to think of it as playing an instrument that combines elements of both the woodwinds and strings."

"Wha- sorry, what does that mean? I'm not exactly familiar with instruments, is that some sort of technique?" Donovan's type specialization was showing its face more and more often in these practice sessions, the Arboreal Maiden often making a reference to some part of their culture which he had no exposure to.

"Are you familiar with the instrument called the flute?" Seeing him nod his head, the Arboreal Maiden continued. "Instruments like that, those that you blow on or through to make a noise are called 'woodwinds' though another type, the 'brass' instruments, share the same characteristic of air moving through them. In this case, I would like the two of you to think of your windpipe, your trachea, as an instrument like that. It should go without saying then that a 'string' instrument would be something like a violin or a guitar, one that uses strings to make sound."

Donovan nodded his head, though he still had questions. "Okay, so am I forcing the split up through my throat? Or am I just speaking how I would normally?"

"I was going to get to that. Split should be flowing in something resembling a line across the top of your vocal cords. You might think of this as the string of a violin or a guitar. As we went over, split very rarely interacts with the material plane unless it is being forced into motion. Also keep in mind that the faster it is moved, the faster it is forced, the more potent this reaction will be. You are gagging because the string is too thick, making bubbles as you breathe.

I don't know if this will help visualize what is happening or not, but try to consider speeding up the flow as pulling the string taut. This will 'tune' the sound that comes out and make it into something that can be universally understood."

Diana tried again with this advice. "So the string will vibrate like the - - like the sound waves coming out?"

"That was much better Diana, and yes. The string will create a small wave of split attached to the soundwave. I'm sure you remember one of the key aspects of split we discussed in our lecture?"

"Split is intricately linked to intent, I remember."

"Correct, but please try to say things using split from now on Donovan. I understand that learning different languages was not part of your curriculum, but I can guarantee that continued practice will only improve your skills."hat someone hailing from a single-system nation will have funding as a top-level concern."

He received a nod of recognition from the Captain.

"Scholar, as much as I would like to give you a break, we can't disregard the chance of refusal. I'll have to ask you to put together a secondary list of maybe ten candidates or so in case things do not turn out ideally."

"I can do that. Where are you headed?"

"I need to investigate. I shouldn't be long, but there might be the possibility that attitude was a factor."