Because We Aren't Paranoid Enough...

[Smaug with OCD]

I had a super dark thought, and figured I might as well share.

YET MORE PEOPLE WHO MIGHT BE NEMFECTED: So, Carlos mentions the Sleepers in Cold Case, specifically in reference to the thing that the cultists worship. He says that they're(it?) are(is?) like the Outsiders, but in. So... anyone think the cultists might have, shall we say... inducted... the children?

[raidem]

It makes sense.  And more of a problem that Maeve wasn't handling.  We have a WOJ that there is a 150 year backlog of jobs for Molly to do.  Apparently, Maeve was being lazy to some extent compared to Mab's expectations, or at least to Jim's.

[Snark Knight]

He says that they're(it?) are(is?) like the Outsiders, but in. So... anyone think the cultists might have, shall we say... inducted... the children?

I think they were on the verge of using them for a blood sacrifice (the captain was briefly musing that Molly's blood would be a much more potent replacement for the Miksani, before she squashed them all). Nemfecting the kids instead would have to mean the cultists fully meant for them to be 'rescued' - I really got more of the sense that Molly caught them by surprise.

The cultists were definitely playing for the same overall team as Nemesis, but I think their tactics were different. I get the sense that successfully waking a god-tier Old One on the inside of reality would pretty much circumvent the need for games of subterfuge to undermine the defense of the Gates - the Sleeper is most likely enough of a force that he could break them from the inside.

[raidem]

I assumed that there were children in the past that had been sacrificed. Maybe not this group, but others that Maeve didn't get to.

That makes sense about not bothering to nemfect the ones to be sacrificed.  Perhaps they could nemfect their corpses and raise them, kinda.

[Rasins]

It makes sense.  And more of a problem that Maeve wasn't handling.  We have a WOJ that there is a 150 year backlog of jobs for Molly to do.  Apparently, Maeve was being lazy to some extent compared to Mab's expectations, or at least to Jim's.

You know, I heard this (150 years of backlog), but I wonder if that wasn't Hyperbole.  Do we really think that an UN-Nemfected Maeve COULD have neglected her job for that long?

[Kindler]

You know, I heard this (150 years of backlog), but I wonder if that wasn't Hyperbole.  Do we really think that an UN-Nemfected Maeve COULD have neglected her job for that long?

Yeah, aren't there compulsions that would kind of force her to do her job? Or maybe the 150 years is the result of ten years of not doing anything, and exponential growth in the problems, like not putting out a fire right when the candle is knocked over, but waiting a few minutes until it's spread to your curtains?

[raidem]

Some have questioned whether there was contagion going back that far for Maeve, it just hadn't gotten to critical mass yet.  This seems to be contradicted by text of Mab suggesting athame and Lea as directly responsible for nemfection though.  Who knows though with absolute certainty when it comes to Nemesis.

Mab herself may be infected, it just hasn't reached critical mass whereby it can subvert the mantle's imperatives.  Think of it as a virus load.  You can have a virus with no symptoms. Only when the virus load reaches a certain amount, can that virus express itself in a set of symptoms.  And with this particular infection (nemfection), their exists an ability to choose to overcome virus simply by wanting to overcome virus and access to treatment.
So, Lea could still be infected with Nemesis, it's just that her viral load is extremely low and now she has some immunity/resistance to the infection now.

[Kindler]

Some have questioned whether there was contagion going back that far for Maeve, it just hadn't gotten to critical mass yet.  This seems to be contradicted by text of Mab suggesting athame and Lea as directly responsible for nemfection though.  Who knows though with absolute certainty when it comes to Nemesis.

Hmm... maybe Infected Maeve attacking Demonreach at multiple points in time spread her infection to a previous version of herself without otherwise altering history significantly?

[raidem]

Sounds good to me.

[wardenferry419]

I think Maeve's infection occurred between SK and PG. I think the moment in the bar where she lied about Mab being infected was revealing moment for both her and the reader. Therefore, her point of infection was limited to a timeframe nearer PG than SK. Her prior procrastination was a rebelling child behavior that she pushed whenever she could and whenever her mantle would allow her to.