Tom’s answer to “"IX Pioneers" was 28 pgs. of detailed game play...what was your reaction to this section? If you …” > Likes and Comments

Clarify, please?

(view spoiler)[EB Marks had to be Sadie. She meets a character named Daedelus. In Greek mythology, Daedelus, in addition to being the father of Icarus, is the creator/architect of the Minotaur's labyrinth. Daedelus requests that she build a game board for her and that they play Go. The other character EB Marks meets is Alabaster of the 12th wives (like Marx's dating history), but she has the friendship with the Marx stand in, and the relationship with the Sam stand-in. (hide spoiler)]

Would this be obvious to Sadie when she "played" the game?

(view spoiler)[Normal Sadie? Yes, obvious. Depressed Sadie? No, otherwise the chapter would not have gone on that long if it was. (hide spoiler)]

Even with your insights, & knowing what Sam is trying to do, I still can't make the connections in parts of this chapter. Are you saying it was so long because Sadie wasn't getting it either?

Consider her emotional state when she decided to create an account.

ok, it was long & obscure, so I guess you're saying because of Sadie's emotional state, it took her a while to catch on.

Yes. She figured she was anonymous but (view spoiler)[didn't realize Sam had used her IP address to track her thereby breaching her privacy. I think it was a way of showing how they might interact if they weren't "Sam" and "Sadie" without the accumulated baggage. Sadie would not think to think Sam was behind their interactions, but Sam also did not exactly hide, giving himself the name Daedelus etc. (hide spoiler)]

You're so right...Sam was hiding in plain sight! He reached out to Sadie the only way he knew how, & enticed her into "Pioneer" by including familiar elements like pregnancy, amputation, & making games. He thought even if she had suspicions earlier on, she wouldn't be able to resist. (I really liked this book & your take on it.)