update from sparkleup
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<p>And, of course, a riot of movement.</p>
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<p>April and Ksenija hurried down along the path from the entry point of the sim out to one of the various scattered meadow, leaves crackling underfoot — underfoot for April, who was, as ever, clad in her clompy boots; and underpaw for Ksenija, who, as ever, eschewed such, for there was little need to worry about walking bare-pawed for a bear.</p>
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<p>“I still don’t understand why you like this place so much,” the bear grumbled good-naturedly. “I mean, it’s pretty as hell, don’t get me wrong, but this whole time-limit thing always struck me as a needless complication, you know?”</p>
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<p>April laughed, shaking her head. “Come, my dear. It is not [italic]that[/italic] bad, yes? It really is pretty, but also the time limit is part of the fun. We have six hundredths–”</p>
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<p>April laughed, shaking her head. “Come, my dear. It is not <em>that</em> bad, yes? It really is pretty, but also the time limit is part of the fun. We have six hundredths–”</p>
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<p>“Come on, April. Ninety minutes. You can say ninety minutes.”</p>
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<p>“Ninety minutes. There. I said it. Anyhow, as I was saying, we have six hundredths to get all set up and have a picnic, so there is a little bit of joy in the act of hunting down a free spot, tossing out the blanket, eating our food, enjoying the day, and we never know quite when we will get swept.”</p>
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<p>“Yeah. Needless complication,” Ksenija said, grinning lopsidedly. “You have a really weird idea of fun.”</p>
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@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
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<p>She shrugged. “Who cares?”</p>
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<p>“I do!” Ksenija said with a huff, overwrought and dramatic. “I should know how long I get on this date before I just magically find myself back at home.”</p>
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<p>April laughed, leaning over to kiss the bear on the cheek. “You will have enough time, my dear. I promise. Certainly more than five hundredths.”</p>
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<p>“Say an hour and fifteen minutes, [italic]please.[/italic]”</p>
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<p>“Say an hour and fifteen minutes, <em>please.</em>“</p>
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<p>“Nope~ Come, help me spread the blanket.”</p>
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<p>They sat, then, on the grass, the basket set between them, and set about unpacking. There was an orzo salad, sandwiches packed with greenery and cheese and a thin smear of butter, and a few slices of key lime cheesecake, all carefully wrapped and set out on plates. There was, last of all, a bottle of champagne which had already been doctored with elderflower liqueur Ksenija found on the exchange.</p>
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<p>“Tell me about when you uploaded,” the bear said around a mouthful of sandwich.</p>
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@ -49,15 +49,15 @@
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<p>“Really? You?” Ksenija gasped, paw covering her muzzle in mock surprise. “Politically active?”</p>
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<p>“Snarkling,” she said fondly. “But yes, I did rather a lot of campaigning back then, a lot of traveling and yelling at very important people as politely as I could.”</p>
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<p>“Oh? Would I know your name, then?”</p>
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<p>April waved a hand vaguely. “Nah, I do not think so. I was a nobody in a crowd of other nobodies, and then I disappeared a few years after the advent of the System and really [italic]was[/italic] a nobody.”</p>
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<p>April waved a hand vaguely. “Nah, I do not think so. I was a nobody in a crowd of other nobodies, and then I disappeared a few years after the advent of the System and really <em>was</em> a nobody.”</p>
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<p>“Must have been hard,” the bear said, finishing the last of her sandwich in one large bite.</p>
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<p>“Oh, not at all. I am [italic]quite[/italic] happy being a nobody. I still dig politics, of course, and I love hanging out with all the other weirdos who do, too, but the important thing about the way we work is that this is the one place where the individual should [italic]not[/italic] be celebrated. This is the place for the self to dissolve in favor of the community, that the community might make real changes, yes?”</p>
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<p>“Oh, not at all. I am <em>quite</em> happy being a nobody. I still dig politics, of course, and I love hanging out with all the other weirdos who do, too, but the important thing about the way we work is that this is the one place where the individual should <em>not</em> be celebrated. This is the place for the self to dissolve in favor of the community, that the community might make real changes, yes?”</p>
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<p>Ksenija nodded.</p>
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<p>“A lot of people imagine that politics is over, here,” April said, leaning back on an elbow while her champagne glass dangled from her fingertips lazily. “And it really is not. It is an anarchy on a technicality, but society has not yet reached the anarchic critical mass, yes? It has not yet fallen into anarchy as a default. That is why we still have this fucking Guiding Council, is it not? That is why communities keep electing leaders and getting in fights with other communities that have leaders.”</p>
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<p>“But the Guiding Council doesn’t actually do anything, I thought. ‘To guide but not to govern’, right?”</p>
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<p>She snorted. “The same fucking motto as the Council of Eight back in the early days. Yes, they do not govern. They live up to their motto, I will give them that. It is just that the guidance they offer is way deeper than any of us signed up for, is it not? They are nudging Pollux this way and that to their whims, and it is all opaque and hidden behind platitudes and so many useless words. You still have these big names sitting on it, right? True Name? The one who supposedly steered everything from back in the early days, yes?”</p>
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<p>Ksenija nodded, and April could tell that the bear’s attention was waning.</p>
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<p>[italic]Ah well, that is okay. I will get my fix after lunch,[/italic] she thought. [italic]I can still enjoy this.[/italic]</p>
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<p><em>Ah well, that is okay. I will get my fix after lunch,</em> she thought. <em>I can still enjoy this.</em></p>
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<p>She set her glass down and reached out to gently boop the tip of the bear’s nose. “I am going on. Sorry, Ksenija. How about you? Tell me how things were when you uploaded.”</p>
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<p>They spent the rest of their picnic talking about more pleasant things. Shared pleasantries, shared memories, what each of them did when they left the original instance of the System back near Earth, Lagrange, and moved to Pollux, the long-flying probe zipping out of the Solar System at incredible speeds. They talked of goodnesses and kindnesses that they had experienced. The held hands and kissed and fed each other little bites of cheesecake.</p>
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<p>And suddenly, the birdsong stopped.</p>
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@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
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<p>And then the wind dropped, and the meadow had been cleared of the picnic.</p>
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<p>It had not, however, been cleared of April.</p>
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<p>She pushed herself back up to her feet and stretched out her back, letting the sun wash over her face, warming her black curls. She looked around at the empty snatch of field and smiled fondly at the memories of the lunch before tromping out between the trees.</p>
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<p>This was, after all, more than just a picnic sim. It was an airlock. It was a gateway. It was a subtle entrance to a secondary sim that allowed no direct entry except through this little forest. This was a layer of security [italic]and[/italic] a layer of obscurity, for everyone was swept from the sim after six hundredths — yes, about an hour and a half — without the sweeping being obvious. It was built into the experience. The sim would sweep them because that was the whole shtick.</p>
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<p>This was, after all, more than just a picnic sim. It was an airlock. It was a gateway. It was a subtle entrance to a secondary sim that allowed no direct entry except through this little forest. This was a layer of security <em>and</em> a layer of obscurity, for everyone was swept from the sim after six hundredths — yes, about an hour and a half — without the sweeping being obvious. It was built into the experience. The sim would sweep them because that was the whole shtick.</p>
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<p>Unless, of course, you were on the guest list, as April was.</p>
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<p>It was one of a dozen sims like it, each with their own shtick, but each of which also had some mechanic which automatically swept participants after some time without looking like it was sweeping all but a select few.</p>
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<p>April wandered deeper into the woods, delving into shade where the canopy blotted out the sun, until she came across a little creek and began to hike uphill along its bank. The creek was joined by another, and then it joined in turn with a small river burbling joyfully over rocks.</p>
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