China raised an eyebrow. "And you think I would know? I run a library."
"You helped create the Cleavers," Skulduggery pointed out levelly, "you've mastered the language of magic, and you hear about anything going on in the magical community weeks before the Sanctuary does. Are you honestly trying to tell us you have no clue?"
China beamed him one of her trademark smiles, and Skulduggery suppressed a groan. Not quite back to her old self, but close enough to be annoying again. "Well, when you put it that way..." Her smile faded quickly. "I don't know for certain. Guild was very careful with what information got leaked to me, and I simply didn't think the new doorman was worth the effort or the risk. I can, however, tell you how it was probably done. Wax figures that are already made, then given sentience, are easy enough to produce - and certainly the extent of the skills of anyone Guild had at his disposal. You've all seen him, however. He doesn't have a mind of his own. He is not capable of being creative, which is crucial in a fight. He is not Phil Lynott. He doesn't have anything in him that was even remotely in Phil Lynott."
"I don't know," said Valkyrie. "He's getting better at singing."
"Is he? How fascinating. Unfortunately, if you're hoping for these figures to have facets like Wreath is describing, it gets a tad more complicated. They'll act like their real-life counterparts, despite not having emotion or true free will. The long-term consequences could be... problematic. And that's not even getting into the process of making them."
"The long-term consequences?" Ghastly asked. "What do you mean?"
"The same risks are always involved when you grant this type of sentience to an inanimate object. They inevitably start getting ideas. That was one of the reasons we decided to go with the Cleavers."
That was the problem, Skulduggery agreed silently. The figures wouldn't be allowed to have any magic of their own, or any emotion. Nor would they be allowed to perform actions they weren't expressly given. No one with true free will could accept conditions like that for long. And all it took was that one small realisation, some day in the future, for a lot of what the Sanctuary depended on to come crashing down around its collective ears.
no subject
"You helped create the Cleavers," Skulduggery pointed out levelly, "you've mastered the language of magic, and you hear about anything going on in the magical community weeks before the Sanctuary does. Are you honestly trying to tell us you have no clue?"
China beamed him one of her trademark smiles, and Skulduggery suppressed a groan. Not quite back to her old self, but close enough to be annoying again. "Well, when you put it that way..." Her smile faded quickly. "I don't know for certain. Guild was very careful with what information got leaked to me, and I simply didn't think the new doorman was worth the effort or the risk. I can, however, tell you how it was probably done. Wax figures that are already made, then given sentience, are easy enough to produce - and certainly the extent of the skills of anyone Guild had at his disposal. You've all seen him, however. He doesn't have a mind of his own. He is not capable of being creative, which is crucial in a fight. He is not Phil Lynott. He doesn't have anything in him that was even remotely in Phil Lynott."
"I don't know," said Valkyrie. "He's getting better at singing."
"Is he? How fascinating. Unfortunately, if you're hoping for these figures to have facets like Wreath is describing, it gets a tad more complicated. They'll act like their real-life counterparts, despite not having emotion or true free will. The long-term consequences could be... problematic. And that's not even getting into the process of making them."
"The long-term consequences?" Ghastly asked. "What do you mean?"
"The same risks are always involved when you grant this type of sentience to an inanimate object. They inevitably start getting ideas. That was one of the reasons we decided to go with the Cleavers."
That was the problem, Skulduggery agreed silently. The figures wouldn't be allowed to have any magic of their own, or any emotion. Nor would they be allowed to perform actions they weren't expressly given. No one with true free will could accept conditions like that for long. And all it took was that one small realisation, some day in the future, for a lot of what the Sanctuary depended on to come crashing down around its collective ears.