understanding and she grabbed for it. "You were going to say 'Even Shiro' just now, weren't you?"
"I mis-spoke, Jin. Please don't ask me to explain, because I cannot."
"You don't have to. The implication is that I had something to do with why Shiro is the way he is now. He said as much himself."
Frank looked so distressed that Jin felt a little sorry for him, but she grinned anyway. "You can't lie, even with your expressions. I'm right, aren't I? You don't have to answer that, but considering Guan Yin's attitude and the way Shiro keeps turning up I had my suspicions already."
Frank didn't say anything. He just started whistling a tune Jin didn't recognize. She sighed.
"All right, be that way. What about Shiro? I mean, did you find him?"
"No," Frank said. "I did not."
A direct statement. Unless what Guan Yin had told her and Jin's own instincts were way off, he was telling the truth. "You're saying he's not here?"
Frank shook his head. "No, just that Shiro's time skulking between Hells has made him very good at concealment. If he's here I will find him, but it may take time."
"That's fine," Jin said though, for the moment, her mind was elsewhere. She started walking again and Frank fell into step beside her. "Frank, tell me something -- are there any unforgivable sins?"
He frowned. "It's not a question of forgiveness. It's a question of correcting error."
"Fine, then -- an error that cannot be corrected. Does such a thing exist?"
"No."
"Then what about the Avici Hell?"
Frank brightened a bit. "Ah. I think I understand. Emma-O -- Teacher, that is, told you of this?"
"Yes. He seemed to be saying that to be trapped there was so close to forever that the difference wasn't worth squat."
"There is a vast gulf between forever and 'almost.' Granted, this is the absolute worst Hell there is. It does take an extreme level of error to gain entry."
"For example?" Jin asked.
"Well, deliberately harming one's own parents would do it. Pretending to be a bodhisattva and using the position to cheat honest believers..."
"Anything else?"
"Well...killing a bodhisattva ."
Jin felt a chill in her gut. "Aren't they immortal?"
"Anyone or anything in corporeal form can be killed, and that includes you or me," Frank said. "Though with beings such as ourselves, it's barely an inconvenience."
"Then why would the punishment be so great?"
Frank sighed. "Again, it's not a crime being punished, it's an error being corrected . Harming an Enlightened Being directly is to work against the eventual unity of the Divine Consciousness of which we are all part, and in a very tangible, deliberate, and serious way. There is no greater mis-step on the Path that a person can make, and the correction must likewise be great. Thus, the Hell of No Interval."
"I think I see. Let's talk about something else, then. Where are you taking me for dinner?"
He blinked. "Dinner?"
"For all anyone else knows at the moment, you're my boyfriend, remember? The least you could do is take a girl out for a meal. It's late and I'm starving."
"But... I have no money. I have had little use for it."
Jin sighed. "Figures. Ah, well. It's on me, then. Won't be the first time."
Supper was delayed, though it wasn't because Jin got shanghaied into another Hell tunnel. This time the feeling that had helped lead her to the previous sufferers was much more explicit, and easier to define. It was no longer the simple tug at the edge of perception that she had felt just before her trip to the River of Souls; now Jin had a very strong and undeniable sense that there was somewhere she needed to be, and that somewhere was right there in Medias. This understanding nagged at her with a forceful persistence that Jin's own mother would have admired; she felt as if she were being pulled. Jin turned right across Pepper Street instead of left toward Juney's Diner as she'd originally planned, with Frank close on her heels.
"You've been called," he said, hurrying to keep up. "I've seen
"I mis-spoke, Jin. Please don't ask me to explain, because I cannot."
"You don't have to. The implication is that I had something to do with why Shiro is the way he is now. He said as much himself."
Frank looked so distressed that Jin felt a little sorry for him, but she grinned anyway. "You can't lie, even with your expressions. I'm right, aren't I? You don't have to answer that, but considering Guan Yin's attitude and the way Shiro keeps turning up I had my suspicions already."
Frank didn't say anything. He just started whistling a tune Jin didn't recognize. She sighed.
"All right, be that way. What about Shiro? I mean, did you find him?"
"No," Frank said. "I did not."
A direct statement. Unless what Guan Yin had told her and Jin's own instincts were way off, he was telling the truth. "You're saying he's not here?"
Frank shook his head. "No, just that Shiro's time skulking between Hells has made him very good at concealment. If he's here I will find him, but it may take time."
"That's fine," Jin said though, for the moment, her mind was elsewhere. She started walking again and Frank fell into step beside her. "Frank, tell me something -- are there any unforgivable sins?"
He frowned. "It's not a question of forgiveness. It's a question of correcting error."
"Fine, then -- an error that cannot be corrected. Does such a thing exist?"
"No."
"Then what about the Avici Hell?"
Frank brightened a bit. "Ah. I think I understand. Emma-O -- Teacher, that is, told you of this?"
"Yes. He seemed to be saying that to be trapped there was so close to forever that the difference wasn't worth squat."
"There is a vast gulf between forever and 'almost.' Granted, this is the absolute worst Hell there is. It does take an extreme level of error to gain entry."
"For example?" Jin asked.
"Well, deliberately harming one's own parents would do it. Pretending to be a bodhisattva and using the position to cheat honest believers..."
"Anything else?"
"Well...killing a bodhisattva ."
Jin felt a chill in her gut. "Aren't they immortal?"
"Anyone or anything in corporeal form can be killed, and that includes you or me," Frank said. "Though with beings such as ourselves, it's barely an inconvenience."
"Then why would the punishment be so great?"
Frank sighed. "Again, it's not a crime being punished, it's an error being corrected . Harming an Enlightened Being directly is to work against the eventual unity of the Divine Consciousness of which we are all part, and in a very tangible, deliberate, and serious way. There is no greater mis-step on the Path that a person can make, and the correction must likewise be great. Thus, the Hell of No Interval."
"I think I see. Let's talk about something else, then. Where are you taking me for dinner?"
He blinked. "Dinner?"
"For all anyone else knows at the moment, you're my boyfriend, remember? The least you could do is take a girl out for a meal. It's late and I'm starving."
"But... I have no money. I have had little use for it."
Jin sighed. "Figures. Ah, well. It's on me, then. Won't be the first time."
Supper was delayed, though it wasn't because Jin got shanghaied into another Hell tunnel. This time the feeling that had helped lead her to the previous sufferers was much more explicit, and easier to define. It was no longer the simple tug at the edge of perception that she had felt just before her trip to the River of Souls; now Jin had a very strong and undeniable sense that there was somewhere she needed to be, and that somewhere was right there in Medias. This understanding nagged at her with a forceful persistence that Jin's own mother would have admired; she felt as if she were being pulled. Jin turned right across Pepper Street instead of left toward Juney's Diner as she'd originally planned, with Frank close on her heels.
"You've been called," he said, hurrying to keep up. "I've seen
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