[Report This]Date: May 04 2021 3:58 AM Title: Chapter 15
Typos: Ch. 11: "Unlike last night night when"
Ch. 13: "without trying to think about it anyone"; "Enjoying you stay?" (I think this latter one is a typo, anyway)
Ch. 14: "she eventually became inured the stinging sensations"
OK, actual review time: I like how the door at the end of chapter 14 was grey - it makes the trope "I[, the woman in black,] planned for you to do this all along" believable. (I don't have an example where the trope was intended to be serious but wasn't believable, but I guess my stereotype for this is HISHE Sherlock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poDaiYKJFlo) I'm not sure why it makes it feel more believable - maybe the idea is that if the door weren't grey then the woman in black would also have to predict whether Harrison would think that it was created by her, but because she made the door grey she can be pretty certain that Harrison thinks the door was created by her and use that to influence a future plan. This still doesn't feel very concrete to me, though - I'm not sure what sort of plan you can make that would require Harrison to think the woman in black created that door. Maybe she's trying to set a general tone?
Starting in chapter 13, the story is starting to give me Sam Hughes (of qntm.org; e.g. There Is No Antimemetics Division. The point is that in some of these stories, the characters have to reason about reasoning, which I like) vibes: VERSA might know what they think about inside the simulation. If VERSA does know, then if two people want to communicate inside the sim but not let VERSA know, then they have to communicate in a way that they can act in the correct way without thinking about it while inside the sim.
What made me think of the previous paragraph was the line in chapter 15, "You want to share everything you know?" said by Rich. I think the woman in black definitely knows everything that is said inside VERSA (perhaps not side space), but unclear if she knows everything that is thought by the characters. I think she can sense feelings/lying, based on her interaction with Harrison in the grey room.
Author's Response:
I got to say, I don't know what I did to deserve a chapter-by-chapter copy editor like you, but I say this non-facetiously: thank you! My mind has gone numb the countless times I've read through my chapters looking for all my little typos, and I always immediately fix what you find (though that Ch. 14 one you noted is actually the way that sentence was intended to be read).
As for your comments on the story itself... I'm glad you're enjoying it and finding the chapters thought-provoking. I think you figured it out in that this part of the story really centers on the woman in black, namely, what she is, what drives her, and what she's capable of. The characters are trying to figure out these answers for themselves, but it also seems like the woman in black is learning from them by toying with them throughout their time in the sim. Most of these things are eventually answered in later chapters, but the woman in black's sentience and (possible?) humanity are central to one of the themes I sought to illuminate throughout the story. I mean, the story is called Mirror for a reason, right? :P
Anyways, I hope it continues to entertain you. The smut also starts really kicking up after the point you're currently at.