Ancient Thought by Viola Grace (books for 6 year olds to read themselves .txt) 📕

“Never forget the sweet. Luon offered to help you with what you needed.”

Mathla blinked. “You aren’t an idiot.”

“Well, don’t tell the prior that. Here, Master Kiol. Both memories.” She held up the crystals that were vibrating with power. She got to her feet and walked to the edge of the garden, picked up a fist-sized rock, and walked back to the stone she had been kneeling on. “Fire in the hole!”

In front of the two astonished watchers, she smashed the recording of the memories. Master Kiol gasped. “What did you do?”

Libby looked at him. “They were Mathla-Luon’s memories, and while she surrendered them as a test, they are not for anyone else to view. If she chooses a memory of her own will, I will gladly record it, but choosing the most painful is sick.”

The avatar blinked, and her eyes began to glow. “Thank you, Master Elizabeth. It seems you do grasp the subtleties that some of the novices have missed. If we need it for our archive, will you do a voice-over to explain the feelings that Mathla went through?”

“Of course, Your Eminence.” She nodded. “I can also mute some of the fear if you would like.”

Luon smiled. “You can do that?”

“Let me try.” She settled back on her meditation stand and held out her hand. “Master Kiol, I would like another crystal, please.”

“Why?”

She held out her hand and looked at him.

He slid another crystal into her hand, and she focused on the echo of the memory, fanned it to life again before it faded, and slowly guided the viewer through the facts of the matter without resorting to pain-porn or titillation. She finished the recording with the wonders that Luon began showing her in compensation for the use of her body.

Libby exhaled and removed the crystal from contact with her forehead. She handed it to Master Kiol. “Try that one.”

He looked at it, scowled, and set it in his reader. He tensed, collapsed to his knees, and then slow, fat tears began to track down his cheeks.

Mathla asked, “What did you do?”

“I did what humans have been doing with images and emotions for decades. I gave it a music track that matched the action. It is now dramatic, tense, horror, uncertain, and then calm building to sweet.”

Mathla blinked. “You... added music?”

“Music allows you to degrade the original and control what you want the viewer to feel.”

Mathla leaned over and plucked the crystal out of the player in Kiol’s hands. Mathla closed her eyes and was obviously reading the crystal. Tears streaked down her cheeks when she got to the end. Mathla opened her eyes and smiled. “Can you teach anyone else to do this? It is far less painful to see the memories this way. Even though the sound is a whisper, it is powerful and keeps you from getting lost.”

Libby nodded. “When you mentioned folks going catatonic, it was a thought to keep them on a different thread.”

Mathla tossed the crystal in the air, and then, she nodded. “This is going into my personal archive. Thank you, Master Libby.”

“Um, why did I get upgraded?”

Kiol rubbed his eyes. “To create a viewable memory is a master’s skill, but to touch the mind of the avatar and come away with a usable memory is immediate elevation to Master title. You have a lot of control over your mind, Master Libby.”

She nodded. “Well, for one of my species, I have a lot of practice.”

She was left alone until it was time for the evening meal. She had been exempted from cooking duties as she had no idea what the food was, but she grinned as she walked to the masters’ table and took her seat. The prior spluttered in shock, and Master Kiol spoke to him quickly. Libby sat down for the evening meal with the masters and tried not to laugh. Now she only needed to actually do her job, and things would be great.

Meeting one of the ancients was what she was here for, and convincing them to share their memories was what she wanted to do. Now she had to wait.

Chapter Six

Libby stretched in her larger quarters and bathed in the cool water coming through the fountain in the wall. She had washed her robe and underwear the night before, and she got dressed in clean clothing over clean skin. Her hair had gotten washed before bed.

She braided her hair and left her quarters, heading for the dining hall. She got to the masters’ table as the first bell rang, and she was sipping some tea when a heavy pouch dropped in front of her. She opened it and blinked. “Blank crystals?”

The prior huffed. “Go to the quartermaster and get a belt. They are a mark of your new rank.”

She nodded and took the breakfast plate that she was handed by one of the serving novices. Funnily enough, he didn’t try to tip it into her lap as he had the day before.

She set the plate on the table and ate quickly. She preferred her food hot.

When her meal was done, she picked up the bag and went to find the quartermaster. He handed her a length of leather, and as she examined it, he muttered, “It is all a novice like you deserves.”

“I was elevated to Master yesterday. Master Kiol and the avatar were witnesses.” She held up the worn and feeble strip of what used to be hide. “I am sure this will be able to take the weight of... air? What can support this?” She thudded the bag of crystals on the counter.

He looked at it and back to her, and he reached under the table to bring out a very clean and pleasant belt as used by any of the monks who needed to attach something to their robes. No pockets.

She wrapped the belt around her, attached the bag, and cinched it tight. That motion must have been surprising because his eyes bugged open.

She glanced