update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/toledot/launch/launch/Codrin-castor/008.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 It took Codrin nearly a week to calm down enough to send True Name another message requesting to meet. It began with an apology.
 
-"True Name, I'd like, first of all, to apologize for becoming so heated during our last interaction," ey said to er recording instance. "When confronted with information at such a scale, it is easy to become overwhelmed. I have since had time to read through both my notes from our meeting and the notes from both Codrin#Pollux and Ioan, and I think I understand better about what it was that you were trying to tell me. With that in mind, I'd like to meet up again to discuss some of the questions I didn't get to previously, and to allow you to explain anything you would like to. Please let me know when you would like to meet. Thank you."
+"True Name, first of all, I'd like to apologize for becoming so heated during our last interaction," ey said to er recording instance. "When confronted with information at such a scale, it is easy to become overwhelmed. I have since had time to read through both my notes from our meeting and the notes from both Codrin#Pollux and Ioan, and I think I understand better about what it was that you were trying to tell me. With that in mind, I'd like to meet up again to discuss some of the questions I didn't get to previously, and to allow you to explain anything you would like. Please let me know when would work best. Thank you."
 
 Dear was nowhere to be found, this time. The fox had spent much of the last week alternating between requesting to be left alone and crying against eir shoulder. The story of what True Name had told em in combination from the news from Pollux had struck a deep chord with it, and when it did speak on the issue, the conversations would quickly end with *"I did not know. I promise, Codrin, I did not know."*
 
@@ -12,21 +12,21 @@ The response came five minutes later, a simple ping of acknowledgement followed
 
 This time, when Codrin stepped into True Name's apartment, ey was greeted by the skunk standing where she had the last two interviews, and this time, her expression was one of calm curiosity, rather that that initial warmth and its following coldness."
 
-"Mx Bălan, it is nice to see you again."
+"Mx. Bălan, it is nice to see you again."
 
-Ey bowed. "Of course. Again, my apologies for getting so heated last time. It's a bit of a first for me, but that was a lot to handle all at once."
+Ey bowed. "Of course. Again, my apologies for getting so upset last time. It's a bit of a first for me, but that was a lot to handle all at once."
 
 "I understand," the skunk said, returning the bow before gesturing em down the hall once more. "We will have a calmer discussion this time, I believe."
 
 They sat down on either side of the desk once more, and Codrin noted that there was now a single notepad.
 
-"Now, what would you like to ask me? I think it would go a bit more smoothly if you led."
+"Now, what would you like to ask me? I suspect you will feel more comfortable if you led."
 
 Ey nodded. "Alright. Let's start with Launch this time. It sounds like you were involved with that as well. Can you tell me about that?"
 
 "Of course. Is there any particular area you would like me to begin? Launch is a very broad topic."
 
-"Well, Ne Jonas told Codrin on Pollux that we --- that is, the Bălan clade and the liberal elements of the clade --- were guided toward beginning this project. Is that true?"
+"Well, Ne Jonas told Codrin#Pollux that we --- that is, the Bălan clade and the liberal elements of the clade --- were guided toward beginning this project. Is that true?"
 
 If the phrase 'liberal elements' or its implication that True Name must be one of the more conservatives had any effect on the skunk, she didn't show it. Instead, she simply nodded. "Yes. A project such as this was deemed important in that it would add the spice needed to keep System life on its toes, much as Ne Jonas mentioned. Does that make sense?"
 
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ True Name nodded. "It was, yes."
 
 "But you said that Michelle told you--"
 
-"To "Do something big. Do something worthy of us", yes. There is nowhere in there that mentions Launch, of course, is there?"
+"To "Do something big. Do something worthy of us", yes. There is nowhere in there that mentions Launch, is there?"
 
 "I suppose, not," ey said.
 
@@ -60,13 +60,13 @@ True Name nodded, smiling. "It is what we --- the clade, yes, but my stanza in p
 
 The skunk did not speak. A non-answer that spoke volumes.
 
-Codrin spent a minute tamping down eir temper. Ey had, after all, promised to remain calm. When ey felt like ey could speak in a level tone of voice, ey asked, "So you began the project of the launch long before it was really an open discussion. What were the various aspects involved in that?"
+Codrin spent a minute tamping down eir temper. Ey had, after all, promised to remain calm. When ey felt like ey could speak in a level tone of voice, ey asked, "So you began the project of the launch long before it was really an open discussion. What was involved in that?"
 
-"There were three aspects involved. Phys-side political, sys-side political, and technological. Sys-side was, as always, the easiest. Hardly anything to be done. Phys-side, we had to pull quite a few more strings. Technologically, it simply involved the right organizations funded, the right people hired at those organizations --- as our dear Douglas was --- the right scientists put in charge of the right projects. Do you need further details on that? I can speak at length, but want to respect your time and energy, if you have additional questions."
+"There were three aspects involved. Phys-side political, sys-side political, and technological. Sys-side was, as always, the easiest. Hardly anything to be done. Phys-side, we had to pull quite a few strings. Technologically, it simply involved the right organizations funded, the right people hired at those organizations --- as our dear Douglas was --- the right scientists put in charge of the right projects. Do you need further details on that? I can speak at length, but want to respect your time and energy, if you have additional questions."
 
 "To confirm, you influenced Michelle Hadje to ensure the clade worked with the launch project, influenced politics phys-side to ensure that support would be there, and made sure Douglas was part of the team?"
 
-"We made sure that the team was the team. Douglas was a bonus. He was impressionable at a young age, so we steered him toward being an Ansible tech, ensured he made it to the station, and were happy to see how good a fit he was for the role of launch director." True Name smiled, "I have talked with him a few times, though he did not know who I was when I did so. He is very nice, and very happy in his position, proud of how far he has gotten. Do not confuse influence with some form of numbing mind control. It is important that the people we work with do things of their own, happy volition, even if they were originally our ideas."
+"We made sure that the team was the team it needed to be. Douglas was a bonus. He was impressionable at a young age, so we steered him toward being an Ansible tech, ensured he made it to the station, and were happy to see how good a fit he was for the role of launch director." True Name smiled. "I have talked with him a few times, though he did not know who I was when I did so. He is very nice, and very happy in his position. He is proud of how far he has gotten. Do not confuse influence with numbing mind control. It is important that the people we work with do things of their own, happy volition, even if they were originally our ideas."
 
 Codrin nodded. "Well, if he's happy, then I suppose that's a good thing."
 
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ True Name beamed. "Of course."
 
 "If that is how she felt, then I suppose there is little that I can do to change it, given that she is gone. I apologize that May Then My Name feels upset about it, but again, there is little that I can do to change that."
 
-Ey sighed, nodded, and wrote down her answer. "And how have you felt now that you've pulled all this off."
+Ey sighed, nodded, and wrote down her answer. "And how have you felt now that you've pulled all this off?"
 
 True Name looked genuinely thoughtful. "I hesitate to say 'proud', but I am pleased that it went off as smoothly as it did. There were a few bumps on the road, but nothing difficult to overcome. We --- the Odists you have called conservative --- continue to work as we will. Jonas, bless his black heart, continues to work as he will. We stay in contact and keep divergence to a minimum until we are out of harm's way, and then we ensure that we will keep our own projects safe. Castor, Pollux, and the L<sub>5</sub> System. It is all going as close to plan as we could have expected."
 
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ True name smiled and stood, brushing her paws down over her blouse to straighten
 
 "I'll have to tell it that when I get back. It'll be excited to hear its idea out in the wild."
 
-The skunk ushered em to the door and grinned. "It will be fucking pissed, Codrin Bălan, and we both know that."
+The skunk walked with em to the door and grinned. "It will be fucking pissed, Codrin Bălan, and we both know that."
 
 When ey returned home and quit to merge with the Codrin that had remained behind, ey set down eir notes on eir desk, walked into the house proper, into the bedroom, and slipped, fully-clothed, beneath the sheets. The interview had not lasted more than half an hour, and yet ey felt drained.
 
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Ey must have dozed off at some point, as ey was woken by Dear crawling into the
 
 *"Evening, actually. I wanted to let you sleep, but dinner will be up shortly."*
 
-Codrin nodded. "Thanks, I suppose. Stressful."
+Codrin nodded. "Thanks. Stressful day."
 
 *"It is difficult, is it not?"* Dear murmured against eir neck. *"I apologize that this was the way that you had to learn the truth. I apologize that I was not able to tell you what I did know, and I apologize that I did not know the rest. I apologize for many things, my dear. I cannot apologize for what the other elements of the clade did, but I am sorry all the same."*
 
@@ -132,9 +132,9 @@ Dear nipped at eir shoulder and grinned toothily at em. *"I am no good at 'fucki
 
 *"Do you really feel bad, Codrin?"*
 
-"Kind of," ey mumbled. "It was just...a lot. I feel jerked around. It's depressing."
+"Kind of," ey said. "It was just...a lot. I feel jerked around. It's depressing."
 
-Dear nodded and crawled out of the bed, reaching out a paw to help em up. *"It is not a great feeling, no. The ends are not so bad, though, are they? We are on a hunk of metal and carbon and silicon and whatever the fuck the LVs are made of hurtling through space at some unimaginable speed. There are two of us living two completely separate lives, and Ioan and May Then My name are back at the station being adorable nerds together or whatever it is they do."*
+Dear nodded and crawled out of the bed, reaching out a paw to help em up. *"It is not a great feeling, no. The results are not so bad, though, are they? We are on a hunk of metal and carbon and silicon and whatever the fuck the LVs are made of hurtling through space at some unimaginable speed. There are two of us living two completely separate lives, and Ioan and May Then My name are back at the station being adorable nerds together or whatever it is they do."*
 
 Codrin lauged.
 

writing/post-self/toledot/secession/sys/True-Name/008.md

@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 # True Name --- 2125
 
-The Council of Eight met before the news of the secession amendment passing was spread widely among those who tracked such information sys-side. They agreed, without even needing to talk about it, that it would be nice to have a small celebration of success before everyone was doing it. Something comfortable, cheerful, with friends.
+The Council of Eight met before the news of the secession amendment passing was published in the perisystem news feeds for those who tracked such information sys-side. They agreed, without even needing to talk about it, that it would be nice to have a small celebration of success before everyone was doing it. Something comfortable, cheerful, with friends.
 
-To that end, they met at Debarre's house, a low, rambling house plugged squarely into the side of a hill, walk-out basement looking out over a wooded lawn. The neighborhood had several such houses, widely spaced, where a few of Debarre's friends that he'd met both on and off the system had set up a comfortable living, enough space to be alone, enough friends to make it worthwhile.
+To that end, they met at Debarre's house, a low, rambling house plugged squarely into the side of a hill, walk-out basement looking out over a wooded lawn. The neighborhood had several such houses, widely spaced, where a few of Debarre's friends that he'd met both on and off the System had set up a comfortable living, enough space to be alone, enough friends to make it worthwhile.
 
-The plus-side of the house, in particular, was that the patio for the walk-out basement was under an overhanging deck, protecting the occupants from the slow but steady snowfall.
+The plus-side of the house, in particular, was that the patio for the walk-out basement was beneath an overhanging deck, protecting the occupants from the slow but steady snowfall.
 
 "I don't understand why you had to make it cold," user11824 grumbled.
 
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Zeke began ladling a cup of the heated wine for Jonas. "Why was he depressed. It
 
 "Yeah, well, apparently he's getting pressure from the NEAC government. They're happy enough about the bill passing, but they want to control his DDR participation going forward. He's just mopey."
 
-Debarre growled quietly, tail bristling out. "DDR was a fucking mistake, anyway."
+Debarre growled quietly, tail bristling out. "The DDR was a fucking mistake, anyway."
 
 "Yes," True Name said. "But it got us this, at least, and now we do not need to worry about it again."
 
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ Jonas sat up straighter at this.
 
 "Any *open* governance," Jonas corrected.
 
-"Of course, there will still be work to do."
+"Of course. There will still be work to do."
 
 "And what's the third?"
 
@@ -106,19 +106,15 @@ Jonas sat up straighter at this.
 
 Jonas nodded. "Makes sense. Do you think we've left many patterns?"
 
-She shook her head. "No, not really. But I think it best to get in the practice. I would like to begin to think on the scale of centuries, and if we are to do that, I think it best to shape history both as we go and in retrospect."
+She shook her head. "No, not yet. But I think it best to get in the practice. I would like to begin to think on the scale of centuries, and if we are to do that, I think it best to shape history both as we go and in retrospect."
 
 "Good plan," he said, slouching back into the couch and grinning.
 
-"If you are thinking of calling me a politician, I would like to cordially invite you to consider the consequences of your actions."
-
-"Fuck around and find out, eh?"
-
-The skunk grinned toothily, tail giving a lazy swish.
+The skunk grinned back, far more toothily, her tail giving a lazy swish. "If you are thinking of calling me a politician, I would like to cordially invite you to consider the consequences of your actions."
 
 "Fine," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "So, are you at least happy with the way things are going?"
 
-"Oh, of course. It is a good first step. There is almost no chance of the decision being reversed down the line, and if we make it another fifty years, the concept of the System or any individuals living here remaining under the wing of any national entity will have left the collective subconscious. It will also work to our advantage that there is no un-uploading. An irreversible process that lands one in a place that appears to have no influence on the outside world will nullify many of our detractors."
+"I am pleased, yes. It is a good first step. There is almost no chance of the decision being reversed down the line, and if we make it another fifty years, the concept of the System or any individuals living here remaining under the wing of any national entity will have left the collective subconscious. It will also work to our advantage that there is no un-uploading. An irreversible process that lands one in a place that appears to have no influence on the outside world will nullify many of our detractors."
 
 "Just ensure they upload, right."