The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

The nature of ways and intent

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DonBugen:
Wow, Wyltok, that is an awesome resource.  I particularly like the argument at the end of the page, which particularly talks about the differences between Gates and Ways, and that a Gate is a one-off opening, versus a Way being something that has been solidified in some way and anchored.  Aaand, I see that it was you who proposed that theory. ;)  No wonder you found it so quickly.

I do like it; however, I don’t think that it explains at all Dresden’s attitude towards finding Molly in Proven Guilty.  When Harry sits with Charity and lists off the myriad of things that could possibly go wrong, he never voices that he might not be able to follow the Fetches even if he finds exactly where they crossed over; only that it would be hard to find the exact location.  Below are snippets of the chapter:


--- Quote ---"There are plenty of things that can use mirrors as doorways or windows from the spirit world, but there's only one thing that feeds on fear and uses mirrors as pathways back and forth from the Nevernever.  It's called a Fetch." 
"The problem is that we don't know where to do it…  On top of that, I'd have to know precisely where to cross over into Faerie, because I'd have only minutes to grab her and get out, and I have no idea where she is."

First I had to find her.  The only way to do that was to learn where the Fetches carried her through to the Nevernever.  Geography in the Nevernever isn't like geography in the normal world.  The Nevernever touches our world only in certain points of sympathetic energy.  The portion of the Nevernever that touched an empty and abandoned warehouse might not be anywhere near the area of the spirit world that touched the full and busy childcare center across the physical street from the warehouse.  To make it worse, the connections between the mortal world and the Nevernever changed slowly over time as the world changed.  There could be a thousand places in Chicago where the Fetches might have dragged Molly back to their lair.  I had to find the correct one, and I had to do it before dawn, before the rising sun scattered and dispersed the residual traces of her presence that would be my only trail.
--- End quote ---

If the argument about there being a difference between a quick-and-dirty Gate and an anchored, established Way is true, then Dresden’s logic doesn’t make sense here.  Regardless of whether the Fetches had made the theater a Way, Dresden had no way of knowing it at this point.  He speaks of the Fetches only using mirrors as doorways and windows to go back and forth, rather than having a single solid established pathway – their use of mirrors is what tells him that the phobophages are Fetches, rather than some other monster.  He also expects to pop up exactly where the Fetches crossed when he finds the point they crossed, as he states that the operation must be done in minutes; not something that you can manage if two people only went to the same general location, but potentially miles away.  In addition, Dresden knows that his will, intent, purpose and thoughts are very different from the Fetches; they are returning home with prey to feed on; he is following a pack of enemies in order to retrieve their captive.  If Harry’s entire plan to rescue Molly relied upon him opening a closed gate to follow the Fetches, it doesn’t make sense why a year later he assumes that Cowl can’t follow him into Faerie the exact same way.

The conversation with Morgan and Molly in the storage unit also is a bit telling:


--- Quote ---“The idea is to protect you from a surprise assault long enough for you to go out the back door and run.”
Molly glanced at the back of the storage unit and said, “There’s no door there, Harry.  That’s a wall.  That’s kind of the opposite of a door.” 
Morgan nodded his head at the back corner of the space where a large rectangular area on the floor was clear of any runes or any other markings.  “There,” he said.  “Where’s it come out?” 
“About three long steps from one of the marked trails the Council has rite of passage on in Unseelie territory,” I said.
--- End quote ---


Considering that Faerie makes Australia look like Rhode Island, the chances that Dresden’s storage unit would just happen to open up right next to a marked Council trail is one-in-a-million, even considering how good Chicago is for Ways.  If gates go somewhere different for different people unless they’re connected to a Way, Morgan wouldn’t have any reason to suspect that Dresden could reliably answer his question of “Where’s it come out?” because it would be absurd for Dresden to build a Way on the other end.  If Harry built the bolthole for his own safety, there would be no reason to make this little rectangle a Way – who else but him would be hiding here that could open a gate?  And as doors go both ways (as Morgan reminds him later), attempting to firm up and solidify the Nevernever on the other end as a Way would be akin to putting a giant flag in the Nevernever saying, “Hey, there’s something interesting over here on the other side!”  Not something you do when you need a place to lay low and hide for a while.

I still suspect that this line in White Night is a “the curtains were blue” moment (to steal the WOJ you reference in your signature, Wyltok).  It just doesn’t seem like any of the people in the Dresden Files think that way – when talking about what is on the ‘other side’, the discussion is always about a specific place in the Nevernever, rather than “It’s leads to a peaceful location” or “It leads to a hostile location” or “It leads to a frightening location.”  That is the sort of commentary I would expect to see if two people opening a Way in the same location would lead to different areas which shared the same sort of sympathetic energy, because you wouldn’t expect that you could tell someone exactly what was on the other side – only in general what they might find if they opened a gate there.

Zaphodess:
Maybe crossings over do leave a kind of signature that can be followed, for a time. Unless they are actively wiped out. Kind of like tyre tracks. They aren't streets (like established Ways). They are just there for a while after someone used that path.

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