update from sparkleup
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Madison Scott-Clary
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<li class="done2"> <a href="launch/phys/Douglas/003.html">Launch: phys-side: Douglas</a> - Douglas answers May’s questions - 3489</li>
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</li>
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<li class="done1"> Part II - Progression<ul>
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<li class="done2"> Part II - Progression<ul>
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<li class="done2"> <a href="launch/sys/Ioan/003.html">Launch: sys-side: Ioan</a> - Ioan(s) and May start to parcel out work, but get off topic onto feelings. - 2644</li>
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<li class="done2"> <a href="secession/phys/Yared/003.html">Secession: phys-side: Yared</a> - first change from Yosef, talking with True Name and Jonas - 2791</li>
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<li class="done2"> <a href="secession/sys/True-Name/001.html">Secession: sys-side: True Name</a> - brings news of the bill to Council of Eight, discuss speciation - 1833</li>
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<li class="done2"> <a href="launch/sys/Ioan/007.html">Launch: sys-side: Ioan</a> - Ioan, distracted, interviews a series of poor families (as ey was) re: what they miss, what excited them, first thing they did, what was disappointing, biggest regret - 3376</li>
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<li class="done2"> <a href="secession/sys/True-Name/005.html">Secession: sys-side: True Name</a> - Council meets, she and Jonas introduce idea of secession, which goes over reasonably well thanks to Praiseworthy’s work - 1724</li>
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<li class="done2"> <a href="launch/sys/Ioan/008.html">Launch: sys-side: Ioan</a> - Ioan interviews historian keenly interested in staying close enough to earth to keep cataloging, has picked up on some of the patterns; also wants to be close to Ioan, weaseled her way into the interview - 2150</li>
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<li class="done0"> <a href="launch/launch/Codrin-castor/005.html">Launch: launch-side: Codrin#Castor</a> - Interviews True Name, who was tasked by Michelle as political side of launch, first time sys and phys have worked together in meaningful way in ages, tickled to see Douglas Hadje, nudges him through <em>channels</em> to apply for launch director (look at that manipulation go)</li>
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<li class="done2"> <a href="launch/launch/Codrin-castor/005.html">Launch: launch-side: Codrin#Castor</a> - Interviews True Name, who was tasked by Michelle as political side of launch, first time sys and phys have worked together in meaningful way in ages, tickled to see Douglas Hadje, nudges him through <em>channels</em> to apply for launch director (look at that manipulation go) - 2839</li>
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<li class="done0"> <a href="launch/phys/Douglas/007.html">Launch: phys-side: Douglas</a> - Learns more about the clade, but still not about names, mentions some concerning stuff re: patterns phys/planet-side</li>
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<li class="done0"> <a href="secession/phys/Yared/007.html">Secession: phys-side: Yared</a> - Introduces secession amendment himself, it goes over poorly initially, contacts Demma who reassures him that it will swing in secession’s favor after some unsavory strings are pulled, told to keep pressing sys-side on secession</li>
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<li class="done0"> <a href="launch/sys/Ioan/009.html">Launch: sys-side: Ioan</a> - Ioan, already worried, interviews Do I Know God After The <em>End Waking</em> (skunk male, druid type), who was tasked by True Name and Jonas to meddle with phys-side finance late 2100s to increase sys-side population by paying for uploads (as Ioan was), liberal now, regrets his actions; points em to Jonas still on system</li>
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<p>“‘Us’?”</p>
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<p>It gave a lopsided smile, shrugged, and padded back into the common area.</p>
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<p>Codrin forked off an instance, then followed the fox.</p>
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<p>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.</p>
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<p>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 watched emself fall for it immediately, as though watching from above.</p>
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<p>“Mx Balan?”</p>
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<p>Ey smiled. “You must be True Name. Thank you so much for having me over and being willing to talk.”</p>
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<p>“Of course,” she laughed, and it was gentle, earnest, endearing. “Please! Let us sit down somewhere. Last thing I want is to leaving you standing around in the entryway.”</p>
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<p>Ey followed as she padded off down one of the hallways to a room set up much like an office. There was a desk, topped with a calendar and a few pads of paper, each covered in notes of a handwriting that was almost-but-not-quite Dear’s. It was organized without being uncomfortably neat.</p>
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<p>“Now comes the awkward question,” she said. “Do I sit across the desk from you, or do I drag my chair around so we can just be more casual? I have never done an interview quite like this before.”</p>
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<p>“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.”</p>
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<p>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.</p>
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<p>“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?”</p>
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<p>“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.”</p>
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<p>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?”</p>
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<p>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.</p>
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<p>“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.”</p>
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<p>“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.”</p>
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<p>“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?”</p>
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<p>“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.”</p>
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<p>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.”</p>
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<p>True Name nodded, smiling, and gestured for em to continue.</p>
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<p>“Thanks for confirming my suspicions.” Ey quelled the desire to add an <em>I suppose</em> 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?”</p>
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<p>“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.</p>
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<p>“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.”</p>
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<p>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.</p>
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<p>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?”</p>
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<p>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.</p>
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<p>“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.”</p>
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<p>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.”</p>
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<p>“What a delightful bit of serendipity, is it not? A Hadje working on Launch just as one worked on Secession.”</p>
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<p>“I have heard mixed responses on this from the clade, but do you consider yourself a Hadje still?”</p>
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<p>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.”</p>
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<p>“I understand. I apologize for interjecting, though. Do you have further thoughts on Douglas Hadje working phys-side?”</p>
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<p>“It was, as I said, serendipitous. When I saw that he had submitted his resume for the position, I was surprised. I do believe he was well qualified for the position, but I ensured that I had a chance to sit in on the hiring committee meetings.” Her smile returned, this time a touch mischievous, and she winked to em. “I may or may not have had some conversations with others on the committee to argue his case. It tickled me to have that option crop up during the process.”</p>
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<p>Ey raised an eyebrow as ey wrote. “Yes? Well, I suppose that is as good a reason to hire someone as any other, if he was qualified and a good fit.”</p>
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<p>She laughed. “Of course. If he had been a total numbskull, I would not have spoken up for him. Probably distanced myself from him, at that.”</p>
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<p>“I hesitate to call it ‘pulling strings’, but did similar opportunities arise during Secession?”</p>
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<p>“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.”</p>
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<p>“What were your reasons? At the time, I mean.”</p>
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<p>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?”</p>
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<p>“Did they want you to remain such?”</p>
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<p>“Of course. Many of them did, at least. With an increasing number of their most curious and intelligent minds uploading, the government was concerned of a brain-drain, such as it were. If we were still citizens, they could claim that our output was created under their jurisdiction. That is why it was a campaign and not just a foregone conclusion.”</p>
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<p>Codrin nodded as ey wrote, and some part of em realized just how smoothly the conversation had gone. There were few times ey could name where confidence had failed em, and it had instead felt much like any other conversation between friends.</p>
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<p>“What was your role in the decision to undertake the launch project?” ey asked.</p>
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<p>She blinked, sat up straighter, and smiled wide. “Oh goodness, did you not know? It was mine from the start. Before she left, Michelle met with the clade and gave each of the stanzas a suggestion. They were quite vague, as she was struggling quite a bit, there at the end. She said, “Do something big. Do something worthy of us.” And so I gave it some thought and remembered that it had been so long since the two entities had worked together on a project, and we are already in space, so the idea of Launch came naturally to me.”</p>
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<p>Ey stopped writing in the middle of a sentence, startled. “Wait. You originated the idea?”</p>
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<p>“Yes. It was a communal effort from start to end, Codrin, you must understand. I think that many were considering very similar ideas, but I was the first to bring it to the attention to both entities out loud.”</p>
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<p>Codrin, mastering eir surprise, finished writing eir note. “Well, I suppose I have you to thank for this project as well, then.”</p>
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<p>Her laugh was musical and genuine. “I am happy to hear that, Mx Balan.”</p>
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<p>“I think that was all the questions that I had prepared,” ey said. Ey was still reeling from the revelation, not to mention the lingering admonition not to push any one Odist too much “It’ll give me plenty to put into my report. Do you have anything you’d like to ask me?”</p>
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<p>“Only a suggestion. You have doubtless heard of Jonas, yes? Good. Well, I might also suggest that you find an instance of the Jonas clade to talk with. Given the direction of your questions, he will likely have much that will interest you.”</p>
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</article>
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<footer>
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<p>Page generated on 2021-09-14</p>
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