Traumatic memories are probably the most in demand of treatment, by raw numbers. A global war will do that. Although if the books have anything on hallucinations or disordered thinking then that might be higher priority.

What does it mean to signpost a memory?

She's got a chapter on hallucinations! It looks like it should not be too hard to dial them down but overdoing it can have consequences like people not being able to interpret stuff they see as being whole objects instead of as their individual parts. Signposting is like, if someone concentrates on the unifying characteristic of memories "has to do with my sex life", it is possible for a subtle artist to temporarily and harmlessly "mark" all the memories thus distinguished and then not accidentally read them while rummaging for other stuff.

Subtle-arts hallucination treatment sounds risky—does Bella have a sense of how often those consequences manifest?

Only what it says in the book, which is not very numerical. It does seem like she could undershoot and then if the hallucinations were still at a bothersome level push a bit harder, and so probably not get too far from the ideal.

Fair enough. "If you're trying for the most possible good, then whether to prioritize traumatic memories or hallucinations depends on whether we can replicate—or at least learn from—your work. If we can, then our biggest knowledge gap is with hallucinations; you'd be advancing the field by at least a few generations. But that's a big 'if'. Are you personally inclined toward one or the other?"

Headshake. "They both seem important in different ways and probably for different people, I don't think one of them is more my specialty."

"Then if I had to pick one, I would start with traumatic memories."

"I'll read up." She flips to the correct chapter.

Sveneric will start looking for someone who's willing to be carefully experimented on. She can reach him by scroll-case, or by mind, when she's ready to start.

Okay, she doesn't think she's going to get any farther without one of a subtle arts professor or a live subject and guess which one of those this planet hasn't got.

A few days later, the subject knocks on Bella's door: a beautiful golden-haired young man with a pleasant voice who introduces himself as Siamis, Sveneric's cousin.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you, I'm Bella. Do you want to come inside?"

He enters. "You picked a nice place to live," he says, looking appreciatively at one of the murals. "Would you like the relevant background on my life?"

"Anything you think might be helpful that you're comfortable telling me."

"Before I start, you should know that I'm here not out of personal necessity, but as a training aide. I've already made a considerable recovery. What I can offer you are the mental scars left from my experiences, and strong enough dena Yeresbeth that I can hopefully prevent you from making any catastrophic mistakes."

"How will you be using that, exactly, I'm not accustomed to interfacing with it in what practice I've had with subjects before."

"Only to observe, and—if I believe I'm in danger—to shield myself from your influence."

"That should be fine, though I'm going to like, tell you, before I do anything."

"Naturally.

"I grew up expecting to inherit my family's stewardship, the Reverael House of Healing. Instead, when I was twelve years old, the world ended. I believe Sveneric has told you something of Norsunder's first incursion, four thousand years ago. My uncle, Detlev, was one of the last line of defense. In order to ensnare him, Norsunder kidnapped me and slaughtered every other member of our family. It worked; when the war ended, Detlev and I were both prisoners in the Norsunder Beyond Time. Millennia passed in the real world while I spent subjective decades being raped and tortured for the amusement of Norsunder's lords. They would occasionally send me into the temporal world to kill and terrorize, a job from which I wrung as much broken pleasure as I could. It was only Detlev's secretive mentorship that allowed me to recover my moral compass; I was the first of the wave of defectors, who helped to organize Norsunder's final defeat. Since then, I have dedicated my life to the translation of ancient healing texts, to my wife, and to the recording of history." His tone is conversational, matter-of-fact.

"And 'since then' is about how long?"

"Since we defeated Norsunder? Ten years."

"What form did the mentorship take?"

"He orchestrated my encounter with Ida Cassadas: my first teenage love, who taught me kindness again. He trained me in the sword without Norsunder's knowledge. And he told me to wait, which gave me hope that there was something to wait for. He spoke maybe a hundred words to me in that time, all told."

"Ida's positioning in the whole affair was...?"

He turns wistful. "A queen and visionary who lived some thousand years ago. Detlev correctly identified the influence she would have on me, and exerted himself to give us a few months without tipping off Norsunder. Officially, I went down in the records as her mysterious consort from the continent across the sea. Not strictly inaccurate."