On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 14:58, Brian Ridge<bwridge@...> wrote:
> SO I was reading my Delta GReen book while killing time at the airport today
and something struck me as somewhat hard to swallow.
>
> 1) IF Alzis is so damn powerful, how is it that he would need the help of a
couple of mortals (albeit mortals with guns and security clearances)? IF ALzis
wants some book out of a library vault somewhere, doesn't he have more than
enough power and ability to get the book himself?

He probably doesn't even want it, and he certainly doesn't need it. He
just wants the agents to dig their hole deeper. And remember; he
didn't get that powerful by always getting his own hands dirty.
Whenever he can have someone else do something for him - particularly
if that means that someone will end up in debt or in a position to be
blackmailed - why do it himself and deprive himself of the ability to
gather more power?

Or to turn it around; if the US has nuclear weapons, why do they send
in special forces to try to stop bad things going on? Why not just
nuke the site and be done with it? The reasons are parallel; just
because you have big guns does not mean using them is a good thing,
and you end up destroying your power instead of building it.

> 2) And, assuming that there is someone or something out there that can put
hurdles in front of Alzis that would require him seeking outside help, wouldn't
that same person or thing have an even easier time preventing human agents who
are aiding him? What.. .they can track down some esoteric and long-forgotten
magical ward but can't find a home depot with quality locks?

One thing to remember is that Alzis is, among other things he is,
immensely spoiled. Why would he do dirty work for his toys if others
are falling over themselves to do it for him?

> It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The mere fact that Alzis has to cut
deals to achieve ceertain ends seems to me to be evidence of a limited power.

The deals provide him with power. Consider. A team of agents need
something Alzis has in order to perform a deed they expect will
eventually if not save the world then at least delay its demise. He
says sure, just break into this and that place, probably under the
nose of their own employers, and steal something for me. The agents do
this, and end up under his thumb - he doesn't say it, but he can of
course rat them out whenever he wants to. And the deed they perform
doesn't quite have the expected result either. And they all end up
slightly more mad than they were before.

Net result; Alzis gets a book, a team of agents to play with, and
lends them something he can take back whenever he wants to.

Plus, he gets off on corrupting people.

Jesper