Gens produce (generate) selyn. Simes need it, and can perceive it, something like an aura, and strip it with their lateral tentacles; the other tentacles are just like extra fingers (sort of) and are used to lock the arms into place so the laterals have the right kind of grip.
It's measured in "dynopters." I gather that several thousand dynopters are involved in the average transfer, but the details are very lightly touched on in canon.
Average gen produces, let's say, 10,000 d. per month. Average sime needs, let's say, 2500 d. per month.
Except that if the gen gets scared during transfer, the sime is going to switch to a killmode attack and all the extra is wasted. Also, even if the gen is not scared, allowing three or four simes to use him for transfer (there's no correct verb for that) could kill him by draining him completely.
I don't know why there are no arrangements with one gen and two rensimes, except maybe that's iffy. Also, a gen registers as "low-field" after transfer, less interesting & attractive.
"Need" and "kill" are both technical terms used only for transfer. (Simes would say, "I require a hammer," not "I need a hammer." And taking someone's life is only called "killing" if it happened in transfer.)
All the canonical politics, except for the rebel crazies*, work hard to prevent direct transfer between rensime and gen, because gens get killed that way. A rensime *cannot* stop mid-transfer, and a gen who's scared during transfer is going to be a dead gen. This includes a gen who's scared because she just tripped on a rock and fell over.
*I like the rebel crazies. But there's reasons they remain rebel crazies for over a thousand years of canon.
no subject
It's measured in "dynopters." I gather that several thousand dynopters are involved in the average transfer, but the details are very lightly touched on in canon.
Average gen produces, let's say, 10,000 d. per month.
Average sime needs, let's say, 2500 d. per month.
Except that if the gen gets scared during transfer, the sime is going to switch to a killmode attack and all the extra is wasted. Also, even if the gen is not scared, allowing three or four simes to use him for transfer (there's no correct verb for that) could kill him by draining him completely.
I don't know why there are no arrangements with one gen and two rensimes, except maybe that's iffy. Also, a gen registers as "low-field" after transfer, less interesting & attractive.
"Need" and "kill" are both technical terms used only for transfer. (Simes would say, "I require a hammer," not "I need a hammer." And taking someone's life is only called "killing" if it happened in transfer.)
All the canonical politics, except for the rebel crazies*, work hard to prevent direct transfer between rensime and gen, because gens get killed that way. A rensime *cannot* stop mid-transfer, and a gen who's scared during transfer is going to be a dead gen. This includes a gen who's scared because she just tripped on a rock and fell over.
*I like the rebel crazies. But there's reasons they remain rebel crazies for over a thousand years of canon.