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<h1 id="codrin-balan-2346">Codrin Balan — 2346</h1>
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<div class="codehilite"><pre><span></span><code><span class="err">Convergence T-22 days, 1 hour, 48 minutes</span>
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<div class="codehilite"><pre><span></span><code><span class="err">Convergence T-21 days, 9 hours, 48 minutes</span>
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</code></pre></div>
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<p>Codrin found emself in possession of a blissful day of peace after that sudden pile-on of news. Ey acknowledged a request from True Name to act as amanuensis with a faintness of heart that ey hoped the skunk did not notice, worked on a letter to Ioan, and then went back to spending the rest of eir day napping, catching up on a writing project ey had been poking at, shoving Dear around for fun, and watching the fox rehearse its next performance with their partner. This one was to be a ballroom dance where everyone invited would dance with instances of Dear, which would begin disappearing one by one while the rest grew steadily more anxious, as though worrying that they would be next.</p>
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<p>There was a long moment of silence, broken only but the occasional noise of contentment from Dear’s partner as the fox continued in its back-rub. Codrin spent the time plastering those thoughts over with better ones. Ey thought about how the fox smelled, how its fur felt against eir face. Ey thought about how, once, ey’d wound up between eir two partners in much the same position and it had led to an overwhelming wave of anxiety, a sense that things were wrong, a feeling that ey needed to escape, and how they’d comforted em and then simply fallen back into the habit of laying like this, instead. The fox seemed to draw a sense of security, sandwiched between them, just as Codrin did by having no one at eir back.</p>
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<p><em>“Did you hate her?”</em> Dear said, breaking the silence and eir rumination. It had stopped in its massage and settled for a simple hug instead. <em>“Do you still?”</em></p>
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<p>Ey hooked eir chin over the fox’s shoulder, humming thoughtfully. “Maybe, in a way. I thought I did at the time. I thought I hated that she was part of the hidden level of control that everyone suspects but no one can prove. All she needed was a black suit, black sunglasses, and an earpiece.”</p>
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<p>Dear and its partner laughed.</p>
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<p>“Now, though, I think resentment is a more accurate word than hate. I resent the feeling of being controlled with no recourse. She may have the brainpower and manpower and analytical skills to read everyone as thoroughly as she did, but I resent how cold she was in actually doing so; there’s no point in hating her. I don’t dislike the System as it stands after her and Jonas’s manipulation, but I resent the cynicism it took to get here. I don’t resent being here, but I do resent the phys-side manipulations that led to me being here.”</p>
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<p>Both of eir partners laughed.</p>
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<p>“Now, though, I think resentment is a more accurate word than hate. I resent the feeling of being controlled with no recourse. She may have the brainpower and manpower and analytical skills to read everyone as thoroughly as she did, but I resent how cold she was in actually doing so; making me angry to make the result seem sensational? There’s a lot of cynicism bound up in that.” Ey shrugged. “There’s no point in hating her. I don’t dislike the System as it stands after her and Jonas’s manipulation, but I resent the cynicism it took to get here. I don’t resent being here, but I do resent the phys-side manipulations that led to me being here.”</p>
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<p>After yawning, Dear’s partner asked, “Think you’ll be alright working beside her while you resent her?”</p>
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<p>“If it was just me, no,” ey said. “If that cynicism is directed at the Artemisians and Tycho and whoever else, rather than just at me, It’ll be fine, I think.”</p>
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<p><em>“Besides,”</em> Dear said. <em>“You will still get to see great things, my dear. You may be tired, yes, but out of however many billion people on board, you will get to see great things.”</em></p>
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<p>The conversation trailed off from there, and the three slept well that night, each dreaming their dreams of cynicism or skunks or aliens or astronomers or love.</p>
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<p>The reprieve lasted until morning when, upon waking, Codrin discovered a note on the floor, written in the Odists’ distinct handwriting:</p>
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<p>The reprieve lasted until morning when, upon waking, Codrin discovered a note on the floor, written in the Odists’ distinctive handwriting:</p>
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<blockquote>
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<p>Mx. Bălan,</p>
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<p>It has been requested that we pull together a team of five to act as emissaries with a team of similar composition from the Artemisians. They have left specific instructions for the roles that should be involved: someone in a position of leadership, a scientist, a recorder, and two representatives. We have the following:</p>
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<li>Representative 1: Why Ask Questions Here At The End Of All Things of the Ode clade</li>
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</ul>
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<p>However, we will need one more representative. It would be vanishingly easy for me or Jonas to pick someone who would be fitting for our enterprises, but why do that when it would potentially be much more interesting to let you pick? It ought to be someone outside the Ode clade or your polycule, but beyond that, I find myself fascinated by the idea that you — you, who have your feet on the ground and head in the clouds — might pick someone about whom I know nothing. With two Odists on the team already, one of whom is one of my up-tree instances, I am sure you can see that we will have the situation under control from our end.</p>
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<p>Please make your choice today, and I will look forward to seeing the two of you by, say, systime 1700 for a candlelit dinner in Tycho’s delightful sim. If they are interested in joining, your partners are also welcome.</p>
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<p>Please make your choice today, and I will look forward to seeing the two of you at systime 1700 for a candlelit dinner in Tycho’s delightful sim. If they are interested in joining, your partners are also welcome.</p>
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<p>Cordially,</p>
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<p>The Only Time I Know My True Name Is When I Dream of the Ode clade</p>
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</blockquote>
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<p>It preened.</p>
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<p>“Sounds promising,” Codrin said, flipping the note over and studying the list. “What do they have that would counterbalance this, beyond being ordinary?”</p>
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<p>“She’s earnest about everything. It’s really endearing, actually. She’s likeable without being manipulative or cynical. She’s interested in people, too, and tries to see the good in them like it’s her job.” They paused, grinned, and shrugged. “I mean, she was my therapist before I uploaded, so I may be a little biased.”</p>
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<p>Ey raised eir eyebrows. “A therapist? That’s actually a really good idea, come to think of it. Someone who can understand humans and just be a normal human is what I was thinking of. What’s her name?”</p>
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<p>Ey raised eir eyebrows. “A therapist? That’s a really good idea, come to think of it. Someone who can understand humans and just be a normal human is what I was thinking of. What’s her name?”</p>
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<p>“Sarah Genet. Want me to see if she’s free? She’s a tracker, I’m sure she’d be willing to send a fork for something like this.”</p>
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<p>“Why not? She sounds like a nice enough person to meet either way.”</p>
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<p>Dear nodded enthusiastically. <em>“I am always curious to meet friends of others from before they uploaded! You are not exempt from this, my love.”</em></p>
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<p>Ey liked her immediately, a feeling which ey’d questioned ever since composing the <em>History.</em></p>
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<p>“So, all I was told coming into this was that I was needed for a project that might interest me,” she said, once she’d been offered coffee, snacks, and a seat at the table. “If you’re going to go all mysterious on me, I’m probably already going to say yes, but make your pitch.”</p>
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<p>“Quick pitch?” Codrin said. “Aliens found our Dreamer Module signal and are going to upload a diplomatic party in a few weeks, and you were suggested as a good candidate for the talks.”</p>
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<p>A few moments of quiet followed before Dear’s partner laughed. “Sorry Sarah. You see why I wanted you over here to have this conversation in person?”</p>
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<p>A few long seconds of quiet followed before Dear’s partner laughed. “Sorry Sarah. You see why I wanted you over here to have this conversation in person?”</p>
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<p>“You’re telling me, good Lord.” She shook her head, folded her hands on the table, and smiled. “Alright, now give me the longer pitch.”</p>
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<p>“Alright. The Dreamer Module broadcast, in short, contained instructions on how to build a message that would work with our Ansible, allowing anyone who found it to upload to the LVs. A few nights ago, someone picked that up and answered.”</p>
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<p>Ey slide the note from True Name across the table and waited for her to read.</p>
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<p>“Yeah, someone who can maybe understand the Artemisians better without doing so specifically to manipulate them.”</p>
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<p>She held her coffee cup in her hands, tilting her head thoughtfully. “You know, it’s a good intuition, but you might also want to be prepared for there to be nothing I can offer. They’re clearly similar enough to us that they can learn our language, but that may be where the similarities stop. They may be so alien to us that we might not be able to understand them at all, at least not truly.”</p>
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<p>Codrin frowned.</p>
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<p>“Not that it’s hopeless, of course. I’m still happy to help. Honored, even! Just an eventuality you might want to prepare for. Have they sent us anything to teach us their language?”</p>
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<p>“Not that it’s hopeless, of course. I’m still happy to help. Honored, even! Just an eventuality you might want to prepare for.” </p>
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<p>“Well, maybe you can help us understand the Odists better, if nothing else.”</p>
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<p>Dear kicked at eir shin beneath the table.</p>
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<p>Sarah laughed. “Have they sent us anything to teach us their language?”</p>
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<p><em>“One of their languages, perhaps,”</em> Dear chimed in. <em>“There seem to be four different species.”</em></p>
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<p>“One of them, right,” she said. “We apparently only sent them our <em>lingua franca,</em> though, so maybe they have similar.”</p>
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<p>“I don’t know, actually. Those are the messages I have, but I don’t know if they’re the only ones,” Codrin said. “We’ll probably learn more tonight. You alright creating a long-running fork for the project? That’s what she made Tycho do.”</p>
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<p>“Alright. I’m curious to see what someone who tried to shape large swaths of recent history looks like.”</p>
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</article>
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<footer>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-01-16</p>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-02-11</p>
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