Sarsaparilla: Not what she wanted, but nobody bothered asking her.


    That girl doesn''t know her own strength.


    Oh. That must be them.


    They''re old. Even older than Teylon. In fact, that bloke on the left has perfectly white hair.


    serious talk about your life and the choices you have made, Mr Lenny."


    Argh, so that counts as a Judgement, does it?


    Oh.


    What?


    I didn''t see Teylon''s soul meeting with Esmeralda.


    Perhaps because his death wasn''t considered to be part of a Judgement?


    Teylon''s dead. And Juniper. And Devina.


    Shit.


    Am I supposed to do something?


    Why me?


    Oh, that''s right. I also have Judgement powers.


    Ah, this is the same handkerchief that Esmeralda gave me.


    Right.


    I think that''s a hint.


    Yeah, Adalace is also crying.


    So is practically everyone else.


    And what about the remaining committee?


    What did we come here for, again?


    Oh yeah. To ask questions. And, err, what was it? Something about telling the whole of Mars what was happening here. That''s right.


    Where do I begin?


    Ah. Looks like I really am the one in charge. For the time being.


    So, how will this disaster all work out?


    How do I answer her question...? And what do I ask in return...


    We don''t know. We think it''s time to open up this esp business to society at large, let them decide."


    you took away Kaydence! And she almost ended up dead because of you! If that''s the best you can do, then it''s time for someone else to have a go." she said.


    Shit, why am I having a screaming match in front of everyone?


    Oh, bloody hell, I have an Angel of Death on hand, how about asking her for some soul readings. After all, I''m sure she has some extremely particular ideas about what I should know.


    Wow, that was a lot of information, all at once.


    Apparently it didn''t take all that long in the real world.


    Ugh, Most of them didn''t start out all that nice, and they got worse the longer they went for.


    Although Ajaeren certainly accelerated that trend something real bad.


    But, still, even taking into account Ajaeren, they still have a lot to answer for.


    OK, I have time to think.


    Are they evil enough to Judge with a capital J?


    Well, Lenny and Arnold certainly are. Although, both actually were committed to developing Mars... But they both, in the end, ended up choosing the bad, rather than the good, to do so.


    Prakash? I suppose if Lucy had lived, he could have turned out a lot better. But, she didn''t. Does that excuse him?


    In fact, what does excuse doing evil?


    How would I know?


    I suppose, if Esmeralda has put me in this position, then I can only assume that I can Judge someone purely by what I know they have done in their lives up to now.


    I suppose, it is not up to me to work out why they have acted they way they did.


    Geez, this is hard.


    Ah, right. Prakash had no hesitation in voting to turn Kaydence into a brainwashed clone, and to eventually send her off to die.


    Right.


    And Terrence?


    He is sort of decent. But, he''s also a bit wishy-washy. Just went along with the flow. Always labouring under his inferiority complex. Never taking a strong, independent, stance on anything.


    To hell with him.


    And Teresa. The most decent one of the lot. She acted to tone down some of the committee''s more exorbitant excesses.


    But still, she didn''t really try hard enough, did she?


    Even taking into account that horrible Ajaeren and his mind raping, she still didn''t try hard enough.


    Maybe if her son Keltain had been born undamaged, she might have been better.


    Maybe if she hadn''t been dumped by that man, she would have aimed higher.


    Maybe, maybe.


    I can only go by what she actually did. And, of course, what Esmeralda has shown me about what she actually did.


    She voted against killing Adalace by using those psychopathic monsters... But that''s all she did. Vote against the motion. Knowing full well that her vote would be out numbered.


    This is what I get for wishing for a super power. Yeah, I''ve got one. A really really powerful one. I mean, who else has an Angel of Death talking to them.


    Well, apart from that unknown other person who must also have Judgement powers, whoever he or she is.


    The trouble with having a super power, I have just realised, is that it requires super responsibility.


    If I Judge these people, the moral consequences are on my soul.


    And if I don''t, the consequences of them living is also on my soul.


    If they were allowed to live - they would just naturally affect how the esp Artifact was used in the future. The rest of society wouldn''t be able to help themselves from asking them for advice. Even if they were locked up and kept away from the controls - even so, they would influence the course of action.


    And their course of action lead to Kaydence being turned into a brainwashed clone, willing to die.


    Damn them all to hell.


    So, none of them saw Esmeralda meeting them.


    not what I wanted." said Sarsaparilla.