update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/toledot/launch/launch/Codrin-castor/005.md

@@ -10,11 +10,11 @@ While it might not be one and instead be the other, there was always the chance
 
 It was in that mindset that ey sent a carefully crafted sensorium message to this The Only Time I Know My True Name Is When I Dream of the Ode clade.
 
-"True Name," ey said, speaking to the observing half of emself who would send the message. "My name is Codrin Bălan, and doubtless you remember my down-tree instance from working with my partner and your cocladist, Dear some years back. Perhaps you also know of my current project of cataloging the experiences of those who have invested in the Launch to be combined into a history and mythology.
+"True Name," ey said, speaking to the observing half of emself who would send the message. "My name is Codrin Bălan, and doubtless you remember my down-tree instance from working with my partner and your cocladist, Dear, some years back. Perhaps you also know of my current project of cataloging the experiences of those who have invested in the Launch to be combined into a history and mythology.
 
 "As I work through the list of possible interviewees compiled by clade, I have had several suggestions from out-clade. In particular, my counterpart on Pollux interviewed an...ex-coworker of yours named Ezekiel or Zeke. He suggested some avenues for exploration in this project for myself, Codrin#Pollux, and Ioan back on the L<sub>5</sub> system, including a suggestion that I interview you."
 
-Ey cleared eir throat and sat up straighter, feeling suddenly anxious. "If you'd agree to such, I'd like to meet at the place of your choosing to interview about your feelings on the launch and, if possible, Secession as well. Please feel free to get in touch with me by whatever means you'd like. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you."
+Ey cleared eir throat and sat up straighter, feeling suddenly anxious. "If you'd agree to such, I'd like to meet at the place of your choosing to ask you some questions about your feelings on the launch and, if possible, Secession as well. Please feel free to get in touch with me by whatever means you'd like. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you."
 
 Ey sent the message off and let the speaking instance quit.
 
@@ -44,9 +44,9 @@ Codrin forked off an instance, then followed the fox.
 
 The sim that True Name had specified was a comfortable apartment several stories up some skyscraper in a city of considerable size. Ey arrived in an entryway that looked out over a simple living room, sofa against one wall and media station against the other, hallways splitting off in either direction from there.
 
-And, in the center of the room, stood a smiling skunk. She looked friendly without being ebullient, professional without being prim, confident without being smug. Her shoulders were straight, expression welcoming, and bearing...willing? Was that the right word? She looked as though the only possible thought that she had was to help solve every one of Codrin's problems, and ey saw emself fall for it immediately, as though watching from above.
+And, in the center of the room, stood a smiling skunk. She looked friendly without being ebullient, professional without being prim, confident without being smug. Her shoulders were straight, expression welcoming, and bearing...willing? Was that the right word? She looked as though the only possible thought she had was to help solve every one of Codrin's problems, and ey saw emself fall for it immediately, as though watching from above.
 
-"Mx Bălan?"
+"Mx. Bălan?"
 
 Ey smiled. "You must be True Name. Thank you so much for having me over and being willing to talk."
 
@@ -58,49 +58,49 @@ Ey followed as she padded off down one of the hallways to a room set up much lik
 
 "Uh, well," ey stammered. The comment had been delivered so effortlessly that ey felt the need to do whatever it was to accommodate her best. It was then that Dear's nudge toward confidence nudged em, and ey stood up straighter, smiling. "How about across the desk? That'll let me write and gives you access to anything you need."
 
-Giving a hint of a bow, the skunk slipped around the corner of the desk to pull out a stool of the type ey had grown used to, living with a partner in possession of a tail. Ey took the seat opposite and set a dot-pad on eir side of the desk, pulling out eir pen.
+Giving a hint of a bow, the skunk stepped around the corner of the desk to pull out a stool of the type ey had grown used to, living with a partner in possession of a tail. Ey took the seat opposite and set a dot-pad on eir side of the desk, pulling out eir pen.
 
 "Oh!" True Name looked genuinely surprised and pleased. "What a delightful pen! Is it something that you had back before you uploaded, or have you picked up in your time here?"
 
 "Oh, goodness no." Ey laughed. "Nice pens were well out of fashion when I uploaded. I remember reading up all about them, though, and so when I got here, I was finally able to indulge myself."
 
-She nodded. "It really is delightful that all those things we dreamt about phys-side can just be had here, is it not? You may shed a bit of reputation hunting down something very obscure or gain some by making it yourself, et voilà, you have precisely the item of your dreams. Anyway, I am rambling. What would you like to talk about?"
+She nodded. "It really is delightful that all those things we dreamt about phys-side can just be had here, is it not? You may shed a bit of reputation hunting down something very obscure or gain some by making it yourself, *et voilà,* you have precisely the item of your dreams. Anyway, I am rambling. What would you like to talk about?"
 
 Ey felt primed to look for deeper meanings, but was also aware of how prone ey was to ruminating and long silences, so ey simply made a mental note later to dig into that statement about phys- versus sys-side items.
 
-"I have rather a lot of questions," ey said. "Which seems to be a theme when it comes to interviewing Odists. I don't want to take up too much of your time, though, so I suppose I'd like to start with some about the launches."
+"I have a lot of questions," ey said. "Which seems to be a theme when it comes to interviewing Odists. I don't want to take up too much of your time, though, so I suppose I'd like to start with some about the launches."
 
 "Of course, I would be happy to answer those. Do not worry about my time, though. I will make it with a fork, if only to ensure that you get what you need."
 
 "Thank you, that's very generous of you." Ey tested the nib of eir pen on the corner of the paper. "I'm pretty sure that I know the answer to this, but just to start with, did you invest entirely in the launch or is there an instance of True Name back on the System?"
 
-"Oh, I left an instance behind as well, which I am sure you have guessed. With all the work that we have done on the launch --- the Odists and other like-minded folks --- it felt as though it would be a shame to not do so. I understand that you invested entirely here, but Ioan remained behind; I know that this is your interview, but I am also curious as to your reasons on that."
+"Oh, I left an instance behind as well, which I am sure you have guessed. With all the work that we have done on the launch --- the Odists and other like-minded individuals --- it felt as though it would be a shame to not do so. I understand that you invested entirely here, but Ioan remained behind; I know that this is your interview, but I am also curious as to your reasons on that."
 
 Codrin hesitated, then shrugged. "It was Ioan's idea, actually. Ey suggested that ey remain behind so that, as the one compiling the information, ey didn't wind up adding eir own interpretations before sending the data back, given how far we've diverged."
 
 True Name nodded, smiling, and gestured for em to continue.
 
-"Thanks for confirming my suspicions." Ey quelled the desire to add an *I suppose* before continuing. "My next topic is getting a sense of how you feel about the launch. I understand that you helped with much of the early stages of planning, and I'm wondering, do you consider it a success? How do you feel about the speed and ease with which it came together?"
+"Thanks for confirming my suspicions." Ey quelled the desire to add an *I suppose* before continuing, "My next topic is getting a sense of how you feel about the launch. I understand that you helped with much of the early stages of planning, and I'm wondering, do you consider it a success? How do you feel about the speed and ease with which it came together?"
 
-"I very much consider it a success. Many sys-side were on board with it, and those who were not mostly just did not care. Those phys-side were quite eager to work with us with, again, a very small minority who were not.
+"I very much consider it a success. Many sys-side were on board with it, and those who were not simply did not care. Those phys-side were quite eager to work with us with, only a very small minority who were not.
 
-"As for your second question, I think that that was largely due to this being the first time in nearly two centuries that our two groups have worked together on one goal in any meaningful way. Scientists phys-side consulted with phys-side on the design of the launch struts and arms. Many sys-side focused on the providing a set of goals to be accomplished by the launch, and many phys-side focused on the design of the System replicas, solar sails, and the Dreamer Module."
+"As for your second question, I think that that was largely due to this being the first time in nearly two centuries that our two groups have worked together on one goal in any meaningful way. Scientists sys-side consulted with those phys-side on the design of the launch struts and arms. Many sys-side focused on the providing a set of goals to be accomplished by the launch, and many phys-side focused on the design of the System replicas, solar sails, and the Dreamer Module."
 
 Codrin nodded as ey jotted down her answer. Ey considered asking her about the sys-side friction regarding the Dreamer Module that Brahe had mentioned, but decided to hold off on bringing up something that might prove contentious just yet.
 
-Instead, ey asked, "You mention that this is the first time in nearly two centuries that the two sides have worked together on something. Can you give me an over of the type collaboration that you were a part of or witnessed during Launch?"
+Instead, ey asked, "You mention that this is the first time in nearly two centuries that the two sides have worked together on something. Can you give me an over of the types of collaboration that you were a part of or witnessed during Launch?"
 
-She laughed easily. "Is it not strange how we are already speaking of it in a similar way to Secession? I can hear the capital-L in your voice when you speak. But yes, I can tell you a little bit about that.
+She laughed easily. "Is it not strange how we are already speaking of it in a similar way to Secession? I can hear the capital-L in your voice when you speak and leave the definite article unspoken. But yes, I can tell you about that.
 
-"You doubtless know that quite a few elements of the Ode clade have been working on the launch. My own up-tree instance, May Then My Name Die With Me, was the sys-side launch director. My role, however, was to act as the political liaison between the two entities. There were meetings to be had, tempers to be soothed, knotty problems of jurisdiction to be considered. Did you know that there were discussions as to whether the new LV systems would be considered as seceding from the L<sub>5</sub> System and planet-side governments? It was all very thorny. We eventually decided that the LVs would be considered a joint project with fifty-percent ownership by each entity. I found it quite silly, but here we are."
+"You doubtless know that quite a few elements of the Ode clade worked on the launch project. My own up-tree instance, May Then My Name Die With Me, was the sys-side launch director. My role, however, was to act as the political liaison between the two entities. There were meetings to be had, tempers to be soothed, knotty problems of jurisdiction to be considered. Did you know that there were discussions as to whether the new LV systems would be considered as seceding from the L<sub>5</sub> System? It was all very thorny. We eventually decided that the LVs would be considered a joint project with fifty-percent responsibility of sys- and phys-side. I found it quite silly, but here we are."
 
 Ey chuckled at the suggestion. "I suppose it is a little silly, but then, much of the political side is over my head. Tangentially, and maybe this is a question better asked by Ioan and May Then My Name, I was informed that the launch director phys-side is actually a distant relative of Michelle Hadje's. You must have been aware of that, given your role, but I'm curious as to your thoughts on having him involved."
 
-"What a delightful bit of serendipity, is it not? A Hadje working on Launch just as one worked on Secession."
+"What a delightful bit of serendipity, a Hadje working on Launch just as one worked on Secession."
 
 "I have heard mixed responses on this from the clade, but do you consider yourself a Hadje still?"
 
-True Name sighed, looking genuinely saddened. "No, not any longer. Sometime between Secession and her death, I had diverged too far from Michelle. The last time I merged back with her, it was quite difficult to rectify those differences."
+True Name sighed, looking genuinely saddened. "No, not any longer. Sometime between Secession and her death, I had diverged too far from Michelle. The last time I merged back with her, it was quite difficult to rectify those conflicts."
 
 "I understand. I apologize for interjecting, though. Do you have further thoughts on Douglas Hadje working phys-side?"
 
@@ -112,11 +112,11 @@ She laughed. "Of course. If he had been a total numbskull, I would not have spok
 
 "I hesitate to call it 'pulling strings', but did similar opportunities arise during Secession?"
 
-"I do not think so. We obviously still had our contacts that were alive at the time at that point. We, here, meaning the Council of Eight. During the campaign for Secession, we each interacted with those contacts phys-side, and many who were interested in helping us achieve that goal eventually got in touch with us. They were surprised when we suggested the idea of secession, but as soon as we explained the reasons why, they quickly got on board."
+"I do not think so. We still had our phys-side contacts that were alive at the time at that point. We, here, meaning the Council of Eight. During the campaign for Secession, we each interacted with those contacts, and many who were interested in helping us achieve that goal eventually got in touch with us. They were surprised when we suggested the idea of secession, but as soon as we explained the reasons why, they quickly got on board."
 
 "What were your reasons? At the time, I mean."
 
-The skunk shrugged gracefully. "We are just too different. By virtue of the ways in which the System works, we were not able to understand each other well enough to interact as members of our prior countries. I was a member of the Western Federation, and when I first uploaded, I technically was still, but of what use was I to the Western Fed in an uploaded state other than as a mind who could only interact with the outside world via text?"
+The skunk shrugged gracefully. "We are just too different. By virtue of the ways in which the System works, we were not able to understand each other well enough to interact as members of our prior countries. I was a member of the Western Federation, and when I first uploaded, I technically still was, but of what use was I to the Western Fed in an uploaded state other than as a mind who could only interact with the outside world via text?"
 
 "Did they want you to remain such?"
 
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ Ey stopped writing in the middle of a sentence, startled. "Wait. You originated
 
 Codrin, mastering eir surprise, finished writing eir note. "Well, I suppose I have you to thank for this project as well, then."
 
-Her laugh was musical and genuine. "I am happy to hear that, Mx Bălan."
+Her laugh was musical and genuine. "I am happy to hear that, Mx. Bălan."
 
 "I think that was all the questions that I had prepared," ey said. "Though I was wondering, my cocladist on Pollux mentioned that Michelle's last words were "Do something big, help us divest". Was that just something lost in translation?"