Koban Universe 1 by Stephen W. Bennett Page A

as they can absorb? Kit and Kobalt managed OK, and thanks to our mods, we have a much larger mental storage capacity than a ripper.”
    “Not a reasonable comparison.” Aldry rebutted. “Their mother was dying. She had only moments to give them information that might help them to survive, if they could. She probably did the equivalent of mental screaming to reach them. There was no other choice, and the humans that shot her were approaching her babies, as she gave birth with her last dying breaths. If they didn’t kill the cubs, as she hoped they wouldn’t, they would need the mental images she gave them when they were old enough to put the mature ripper images in context. The emotions they grasped right away. Kit says she and Kobalt felt and always remembered her love for them.”
    She looked at the young couple e arnestly. “Showing that you love your unborn fetus and the newborn infant is one thing, and those purely emotional images are surely helpful and healthy. Nevertheless, do you want to risk passing a kaleidoscopic lifetime of images to your child before, or just after birth? With no experience or context for any of them? As Kit and Kobalt’s mother had to do for them, in a final act of desperation?” She answered her own rhetorical question with a shake of her head.
    “You have both been on raids against the Krall. You’ve felt fear, seen fighting, experienced terror, deaths, and considerable violence and gore. Those are extreme images and you’d never inflict them on your baby. However, even benign images for you might not be suitable for an infant. They have no knowledge of the wider world. How do you know what will frighten them, distort their perceptions of other people and life in general? What their boogeyman will be?
    “ We humans have tens of thousands of years of experience rearing our children, and we have always exposed them to the world incrementally. Were you allowed to watch the more graphic Tri-Vid news broadcasts, the violent entertainment dramas, or sexually explicit programs when small? With Mind Tap, that experience would feel far more real and frightening than when seen on Tri-Vid, which only enters their awareness through eyes and ears, not via direct mind-to-mind contact. Don’t be too quick to abandon tried and true methods simply because you can.”
    They nodded, and listened. Like most young parents, Aldry knew they’d make mistakes, learn from them, and strive to correct them. At least a full Kobani could directly experience the unshielded mind of their child. A parent would know exactly what bothered them or frightened and confused them.
    At least until the smart , rapid learning little demons learned they could block their thoughts, and tell mental lies with false images. Then, when they were inevitably caught at this activity, the modern equivalent of washing their mouth out with soap, or standing them in the corner would apply.
    Probably , the most severe punishment imaginable to a child would be ruthlessly administered. The dreaded long lecture , delivered in a manner where tuning the parent out would not be possible. A Mind Tap could be sheer adolescent torture in that case.
    Please, mom and dad. Stop. I won’t do it again. I promise ! ” The parents would know a kid meant that, when they thought and said those words.
    “Uh…, Doc,” Rich started tentatively, “you said Kit and Kobalt’s mom probably reached her children’s minds by mental shouting while under duress.” Would Carol or I be likely to inadvertently do this when under some form of intense…, uh… feelings?” His face reddened.
    Aldry didn’t need to touch his hand for a quick Mind Tap to figure this one out. “You mean sex?” She smiled at his discomfort, and then chuckled at Carol’s shocked realization of the subject he’d just brought up.
    “Well , yea... Last night we…, uh, you know.”
    Aldry pretended to look shocked. “My goodness, your neighbors in the nearby apartments heard you