“I don't follow you,” Fiona tells Strauss.
“The captain is a teddy bear. The Weave is full of many tales of
cuddly bears, all with conflicting associations. Whoever built the
cage may not have thought too much about what associations it held,
probably because they didn't need to. They believed they would
always control the environment.”
“So once he was outside that environment,” Fiona replies, “Those
associations would start to manifest?”
“Precisely so,” Strauss tells her. “And that would include
strains of real bears, how they behave, and even dancing bears.”
“Then why does he look like a man?” Fiona asks.
“Well you couldn't very well have a giant teddy bear at a royal
fairytale ball.”
“I have another question,” the captain asks. “How did I know
to jump in the hole?”
