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<p>It was not at all surprising that dinner at home was far less stressful than the dinner with the Odists out in Tycho’s observatory. While the conversation throughout the meal had been nothing but pleasant, the food delightful, and the location and single candle a stunning setting for a dinner, a tension had nonetheless hung above the table at all times. While Sarah had appeared relaxed and True Name and Answers Will Not Help seemed to earnestly enjoy the evening, Tycho had been hovering on the edge of terror, Dear had seemed to have put on a mask of pleasantness that involved choosing its words most carefully, and Codrin had felt hypervigilant throughout.</p>
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<p>This was confirmed when they returned home and the instance of Dear which had accompanied em to the dinner sagged, exhausted, and then quit. The instance of Dear which had remained behind, when confronted with the onslaught of memories, sighed and simply shook its head. None of the triad seemed at all interested in discussing the dinner.</p>
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<p>It was Dear’s partner who had suggested the smaller party for the next night. While they hadn’t explicitly mentioned that it would be a counter to the other party, it was certainly implied. Something to cleanse their palates, as well as to give further time for Codrin, Tycho, and Sarah to interact before they were to go on their journey. All three — four, including Dear — had immediately agreed.</p>
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<p>It was eir other partner who had suggested the smaller party for the next night. While they hadn’t explicitly mentioned that it would be a counter to the other party, it was certainly implied. Something to cleanse their palates, as well as to give further time for Codrin, Tycho, and Sarah to interact before they were to go on their journey. All three — four, including Dear — had immediately agreed.</p>
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<p>So it was that they sat around the table, there in the modern house on the prairie, sharing coffee and desserts and pleasant, easy conversation.</p>
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<p>“So,” Sarah said, leaning back in her chair. “I was thinking about the fact that we seem to have wound up with jobs. Like, honest-to-goodness go-to-work-for-the-day jobs. What did you do before this? You all know that I was a psychologist before I uploaded. I still am, I guess. Dear, you did theatre, right?”</p>
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<p>“So,” Sarah said, leaning back in her chair. “I was thinking about the fact that we seem to have wound up with jobs. Honest-to-goodness go-to-work-for-the-day jobs. What did you do before this? You all know that I was a psychologist before I uploaded. I still am, I guess. Dear, you did theatre, right?”</p>
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<p>The fox nodded. <em>“Michelle was a high-school theatre teacher. I suppose you can see why it is that we are so dramatic.”</em></p>
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<p>She laughed. “Some things carry through even two hundred years later, I guess.”</p>
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<p><em>“Nearly two hundred fifty, yes. I would complain about being old, but when one is functionally immortal, bitching loses its savor.”</em></p>
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@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
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<p>The fox smiled primly. <em>“It does not, my love.”</em></p>
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<p>Still laughing, Tycho said, “It’s probably no surprise that I was an astronomer on Earth as well.”</p>
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<p>“How’d that even work?” Sarah asked. “When I was there, we could barely see any stars.”</p>
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<p>“All space-based stuff. Besides, radio telescopes don’t need quite so dark of skies. Amateur astronomers were the hardest hit. They often had to drive way the hell up into the mountains, and even then, wait for winter when logging season was over. I taught, too, and a few classes were out there. I volunteered at a dark-sky site.”</p>
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<p>“All space-based stuff. Besides, radio telescopes don’t need quite so dark of skies. Amateur astronomers were the hardest hit. They had to drive way the hell up into the mountains, and even then, wait for winter when logging season was over. I taught, too, and a few classes were out there. I volunteered at a dark-sky site.”</p>
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<p>“That makes your sim make a lot more sense.”</p>
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<p>He nodded proudly. “The landscape is based off one of those dark-sky sites.”</p>
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<p>Eyes turned to Codrin, who shrugged. “I went to school, then a year of a history degree at university before I uploaded to help my little brother out after my parents died. I never really had a job, just interests that got all the stronger once I got here.”</p>
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@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
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<p>“Alright. Next set of questions were about forking.”</p>
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<p>There were a few blips of other foxes behind Dear, startling Tycho.</p>
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<p><em>“Apologies, Tycho,”</em> it said, grinning widely, tail whipping about behind it. <em>“I may not be joining directly in the endeavor, but I am intensely curious to hear about this.”</em></p>
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<p>“Well, alright. I hate to disappoint, but it sounds like the only times they fork are in an emergency or during a contact like this. They have to petition some sort of central leadership called, of all things, the Council of Eight to create any long-running forks.”</p>
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<p>“Well, alright. I hate to disappoint, but it sounds like the only times they fork are in an emergency or during a contact like this — ‘convergence’, they call it. They have to petition some sort of central leadership called, of all things, the Council of Eight to create any long-running forks.”</p>
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<p>The fox flinched back as though slapped, its ears laid flat and its brow furrowed.</p>
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<p>“They provided additional information, though. They say that fourthrace had the same concept of forking that we appear to, so they understand our questions around dissolution strategies and clade structures. #Artemis also asked about their naming system, and apparently Turun Ka and Turun Ko are from something akin to a clade that existed before the voyage began. Something from when they were electronic but not on their system. Instead of forking, they have individual, fine-grained control over time. This is how they responded so quickly, apparently: they slowed time way down so that they had as much as they wanted to write their response. They ask if this will be accommodated during the talks and there’s a note from True Name here saying that, even if it were possible, she’s going to answer no. Tycho said she looked upset.”</p>
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<p><em>“Unpleasant business,”</em> Dear muttered darkly. <em>“Unpleasant to an extreme.”</em></p>
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<p><em>“It is nothing bad. Just stressful, and I do not yet know how to put it into words. I will say that this will impact all Odists in approximately the same way, though, which is why you should know if there are to be two of them joining you.”</em></p>
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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 2022-02-12</p>
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