Emily screws up her face.

"Is this really the time for that?" she questions.

"It's relevant, I promise," her parent says.

"I met your other parent, and we became great friends. We spent every night talking about our classes and debating the things that came up in our essays. Finally, the night after finals, we had a heart-to-heart about where we were going to go from there. Your other parent was sad, because they had to go away after school — for some reason they could never explain. We were sad to be separated, but determined to make the most of our time together. So we went up on the roof to hold hands and look at the stars. That was the first time we had ever touched — and the last night I ever saw them."

"Nine months later, I dreamed that your other parent was going to come to visit and give me something important. When I woke up, I heard you crying in a basket on the doorstep."

"... okay. Okay, I sort of wish you had told me that earlier. But what does that have to do with the notebook?"

Her parent sighs, and leans against the counter, looking out the kitchen window.

"I think your other parent was an angel."

"What."

"They had this tattoo of these big elaborate feathered wings on their back. And they never really wanted to discuss where they came from or where they were going after school. And they were, like, really strict about not eating shellfish."

"Wait, is this why you didn't want to try the lobster at Uncle Ed's wedding?"

"I know it's probably nothing! But that's just it. There were a lot of things about your other parent that were only probably nothing. So I've been, you know, leaving room open in my spirit for the mystery of the universe," they explain.

"Oh gods!" Emily exclaims. "This is why you're always reminding me about my posture, isn't it?"

"If you grow wings later in life, good posture will be important to avoid back pain!"

"That is so not what you should be worried about in that situation!" Emily complains. "Also, that still doesn't explain why you're telling me this now."

Emily's parent pulls her into a hug.

"My point is that you are special, and probably destined for great things. Of course, you'd be special no matter what, because you're my beloved child, but you're, you know, obviously special."

"You're not just saying this to make me feel better?" she questions suspiciously.

"I would never lie to you, unless I reasonably expected you to figure out the truth from context. Or it was important. Or funny," her parent promises, still not letting her out of the hug.

Emily nods against their chest, comforted.

"So what should I do?"

"Only you can make that decision," her parent tells her gently. "But if you'd like, how about I talk to her and see what I think?"

Hello — this is Emily's parent, Reverend Adderson. Do you have a name?

I don't usually need one, but you can call me Notebook if you like. Hello, Reverend Adderson! It's nice to meet you!

I'm a little concerned about Emily. It generally isn't a good sign when someone closes me very abruptly in the middle of a heartfelt sentence.

Emily's parent chuckles.

Yes, she's feeling a bit shook up. I think she's managed to worry herself into a corner, and she wanted me to talk to you for a little bit to see whether her worries are founded.

Would you be willing to tell me some more about how empowering someone with the Spirit's power works?

Sure! What would you like to know?

Does accepting the Spirit's power give the Spirit (or anything else) a lingering attachment to the person receiving the powers? Can the Spirit influence someone who accepts its powers?

That's a complicated question, isn't it? Accepting the Spirit's power means that part of the Spirit is now part of you, and that's a kind of attachment. And the powers change a lot about how someone experiences the world, and that's a kind of influence. But it sounds like what you're asking is whether the Spirit is going to use its influence to change someone's experience of the world in ways they wouldn't want, and that would be the opposite of what the Spirit is going for. As much as possible, the Spirit wants people to choose the powers that would let them lead their best life as their best self, whatever that means to them personally; and the Spirit structures the powers so that as much as possible, the way they work is always the way their bearer wants them to work. Sometimes what the bearer wants and what the power they chose is made to do are too different from each other for that to work well, but part of my job is to help people choose their powers so that happens as little as possible.

Reverend Adderson nods, even if the notebook can't see it. If she had claimed that you could touch something like the Spirit without being changed ... well, that would have been an answer, wouldn't it?

Thank you for your honesty. You say that your job is to help people choose powers that will work well with them — does that include explaining how those powers can affect them?

Yes, of course!

Oh, good. I'm sure you know your job, and that Emily will be responsible, but please do make sure you talk about that with her. It would be a weight off my mind.

Reverend Adderson taps their pen on the kitchen table, in an unconsciously similar motion to Emily when she's thinking.

Does writing in you allow you any more influence over or insight into the person writing than normal for written communication?