Book 3. Chapter 53
Brin knew exactly which Skill he was going to take and for once he didn’t need to talk to Hogg about it. The old guy never shut up about how [Split Focus] was the most important Skill for an [Illusionist], and from first glance it looked like [Multithreading] was similar. But of course the System never made his decisions easy, so he still had a choice to make.
Multithreading You can break mental processes into multiple threads in order to run them concurrently. As this is a Unique Skill, more System information is available.
Mark, I have a little bit of leeway here to describe this Skill however I wish. For regular Skills, the System doesn’t give much information because we want you to seek out someone who already has it and learn from them, but with Unique Skills you're the only one who has it so I can customize this description to your special needs. I can even maybe slip in a little note about how if I had known she was going to do this to you I never would’ve given you those [Filial Piety] missions. Mark, I’m so sorry. No one should have to go through that. You’re almost through the tunnel. Trust yourself, and trust your plan. And hey, maybe pray to Solia now and again like you promised?
Back to the Skill. At this point, the Skill will act more like a single processor and let you switch between multiple threads of thought at near infinite speeds. The switching will be at near-infinite speed, that is, not your thoughts. Phew! I’m freeballing this, so feel free to ask questions as we go along. I’ll try to be as precise as I can.
When the Skill description had first shown up, Brin had seen the text populate slowly, as if it were being typed in real time by someone not particularly good at typing. He had no doubt that a godling like Tenerer, since that’s probably who this was, would have no problem typing at the speed of light, so the slowdown was probably for his benefit.
He’d asked, “Am I doing the right thing? Will the gods be upset if I don’t kill her?”
The message had backspaced a few words, and then continued.
All I can tell you is to trust yourself. You’ve already put the right threads into place, and now all that’s left is to pull them tight and watch the knot come together.
Speaking of knots, this Skill protects you from certain causes of insanity or mental damage. There’s one or two things about this Skill I can’t tell you, because you know someone who can. Ask Hogg about how Split Focus works.