Julie Mehta <113367.1506@compuserve.com> asks:
> Are there any more details in it about the devices that might be
> useful to know?

"I agree the coldness was disturbing, but I feel this reveals the deep
emotion she feels at Byron's death and her consequent ruthless
determination to achieve his goals."

This was the point I was going for with people who were saying
that the Byron thing was totally extraneous. To get Lyta to this point
as a character -- remembering her "I'll sue" tirade as the last time
she even sorta kinda got mad -- she would *have* to go through the
fire, and lose something that meant enough to push her to this point.
So you had to let the relationship with Byron go full term, follow it
over time, and see what it meant to her to justify and motivate what
happens to and with her in the last part of the season.

jms

Bancroft Gracey <100532.1747@compuserve.com> asks:
> Quick q's (with a slow answer, I suspect): did you 'see' the
> Lyta/Byron thing back in the beginning? And, given the cast
> changes over the seasons, would it have been Lyta at this point,
> or someone else - a 'revived' Talia, say, or Ivanova?

It's no secret that I would've had Ivanova becoming somewhat
linked to Byron romantically (she would see him as a character like
Marcus, which is why there are certain similarities, and she would take
a chance only to find it wrong this time, underlining that she'd missed
her one major opportunity thus far for a good relationship). This was
expressed to Claudia toward the last part of S4, so she knew at that
time that her latent ability would be coming out, and that she'd have a
big part in S5.

In this scenario, Lyta would have become a devoted follower of
Byron's, much as she has, but it would have been more love from afar:
protective, somewhat unrequited but hoping for more...so that when he
met his fate, Lyta would end up right where she is now, just by a
different road.

jms