update from sparkleup
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<p>True Name’s ability to keep a steady, half-smiling expression was admirable. Even Why Ask Questions appeared to be only just barely keeping frustration at bay.</p>
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<p>Having instructed the Artemisians on how to use cones of silence, there were far fewer breaks throughout the last two days, limited to one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and a longer lunch in the middle. That did not stop them from settling into private conversation every few minutes to discuss whatever answer they might give.</p>
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<p>Ey initially found it strange that added downtime would make the their party more tired rather than less, but after some consideration — and a brief talk with Sarah — ey’d come to the realization that those periods of quiet between question and answer were still spent in expectation. They were still working during those pauses. They were still in conversation, if only by way of watching and waiting, trying to guess what might have led to the need to have that discussion. Ey could not read expressions beyond eir limited notes so far, could not speak the language well enough, and certainly could not read lips, so ey was left only with guesses and suppositions.</p>
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<p>Ey initially found it strange that added downtime would make the their party more tired rather than less, but after some consideration — and a brief talk with Sarah — ey’d come to the realization that those periods of quiet between question and answer were still spent in expectation. They were still working during those pauses. They were still in conversation, if only by way of watching and waiting, trying to guess what might have led to the need to have that private discussion. Ey could not read expressions beyond eir limited notes so far, could not speak the language well enough, and certainly could not read lips, so ey was left only with guesses and suppositions.</p>
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<p>And through it all, True Name seemed to be trying to match the firstracers for patient expressions.</p>
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<p>It wasn’t until that second lunch that the skunk showed any breaks in that patience. She picked up a plate piled high with salad, brought it over to the table in the center of their rest area then stepped back a few paces, where she activated a cone of silence. She brought her tail around toward her front, held in both paws, and buried her face in it. Ey could only assume by the sudden way that she bent at the waist and pinned her ears back that this was done to muffle a scream or some violent obscenity.</p>
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<p>Then, as though nothing had happened, she sat down to eat.</p>
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<p>Lunch after that had been filled with laughter and truly terrible jokes. Sarah, it turned out, collected them, and the delegates unanimously voted hers the worst.</p>
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<p>All throughout, though, Codrin couldn’t shake the image of True Name throwing a very short, very tightly controlled tantrum. The sight of her letting loose so strong an emotion had immediately knocked em back to an interview decades ago, now, where she’d wound em up enough that ey’d started shouting at her in her own office, then bounced em from her sim.</p>
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<p>That, ey’d later understood, had been intentional on her part. It had been a way for her to spin her story in a very carefully crafted way. It set it to a level that sat just on the other side of the line between plausible and absurd. It’d wrapped em up in a story that was just a little too much to be believe, and the end result was a softening of the impact of the <em>History</em>.</p>
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<p>“I don’t think it was that extreme. Maybe some part of her was trying to build camaraderie with us by doing so, but I’m wondering if it was more that she was trying to downplay the news from Artemis.”</p>
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<p>Codrin sat up straighter. “Wait, you mean the Odists struggling over there?”</p>
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<p>She nodded. “It sounds like moving them to a unison room is helping, but they’re still struggling with that…what did Codrin#Artemis call it? The omnipresence of time?”</p>
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<p>“Yes. Dear had talked about it some. It called the feeling of being lost as being stuck in an ‘endless place of no time’.”</p>
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<p>“Yeah. Dear had talked about it some. It called the feeling of being lost as being stuck in an ‘endless place of no time’.”</p>
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<p>“I was going to call that poetic, but the more I think about it, the less I think I could describe it without a whole lot of metaphors, myself.” She pushed a few remaining pieces of lettuce around her plate with her fork. “I was wondering if maybe she’s trying to hide how she’s feeling about that by amping up other emotions. Hiding trauma with humor is not uncommon.”</p>
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<p>Ey frowned. “It would make sense, yes. This morning’s letter from Codrin talked a bit more about them, about how they seem to be struggling in masking more powerful emotions. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Odist well and truly furious,” ey said, which I agree with. I’ve seen Dear angry, and Ioan says that ey’s seen May Then My Name get furious — at True Name, of all people — but I’ve never seen any of them truly furious. “True Name keeps getting these flashes, though, where her face will twist up in what I can only call abject fury. It’ll only last a second or so, and then it’s over and she’s back to looking tired or in control or whatever she was before”.”</p>
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<p>Ey frowned. “It would make sense, yes. This morning’s letter from Codrin talked a bit more about them, about how they seem to be struggling in masking more powerful emotions. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Odist well and truly furious,” ey said, which I agree with. I’ve seen Dear angry, and Ioan says that ey’s seen May Then My Name get furious — at True Name, no less — but I’ve never seen any of them truly furious. “True Name keeps getting these flashes, though, where her face will twist up in what I can only call abject fury. It’ll only last a second or so, and then it’s over and she’s back to looking tired or in control or whatever she was before”.”</p>
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<p>“Anger is a strong emotion. It’s hard to cover up something that overwhelming.”</p>
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<p>“Right. Anger and sadness or depression seem to be the two that keep cropping up. They’ve had to take a few breaks so far when Why Ask Questions wound up in a crying jag.”</p>
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<p>She shook her head. “I’ve not heard anything from my #Artemis instance, which is fine, but I wonder how she would describe it.”</p>
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<p>“Want me to ask? I was going to send off a note before we started back up again.”</p>
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<p>“Sure, yeah. I was going to do it myself, but if you’re already sending one, might as well tack it on there, instead.”</p>
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<p>“Please. I was going to do it myself, but if you’re already sending one, might as well tack it on there, instead.”</p>
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<p>Ey nodded and scratched out a note to emself in eir notebook. “Before I get to that, though, I have a question for you. Something before I drop the cone, I mean.”</p>
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<p>Sarah leaned forward, elbows on her knees, and ey did the same. The added secrecy of talking quieter was a difficult habit to break, and eir mind was still on the topic of lip-reading from earlier.</p>
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<p>“#Artemis hinted at something and I’m not quite sure what to make of it. That ey’s even hinting at it rather than just saying it outright is telling in and of itself, of course, but I can see why, given the context. The messages are clade-eyes-only, so others can’t read them unless one of us grants permission, anyway. It’s only a hint, but I think ey’s suggesting that it’s not Why Ask Questions on Artemis, but Answers Will Not Help.”</p>
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<p>“Well, that’d be a hell of a stunt to pull.” She sighed, steepling her fingers before her. “I could only really tell them apart by the way they acted, but, like you, I only met them a week or so ago. Is ey sure that it’s not just due to the way the skew is impacting them?”</p>
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<p>“I don’t know, really, but given that a good chunk of the rest of the letter, as well as subsequent ones, has been about that impact and the effects its having on the meetings, I don’t doubt eir observations.”</p>
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<p>There was a moment of silence as they both digested the conversation. They still had a few minutes of time left, if ey still wanted to write eir note, so ey allowed the moment to stretch.</p>
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<p>Finally, Sarah said, “I guess I have a few thoughts on it: the first is that Answers Will Not Help struck me as a bit…I don’t know, less grounded than Why Ask Questions. They’re both weird, but Answers Will Not Help was always much more intense, and she sometimes got kind of mean. The second was that maybe we could ask Tycho. We got a few days with the two of them, but he’s been working with them for much longer, since they led with a bunch of science.”</p>
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<p>Finally, Sarah said, “I guess I have a few thoughts on it: the first is that Answers Will Not Help struck me as less grounded than Why Ask Questions. They’re both weird, but Answers Will Not Help was always much more intense, and she sometimes got pretty mean. The second was that maybe we could ask Tycho. We got a few days with the two of them, but he’s been working with them for much longer, since they led with a bunch of science.”</p>
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<p>“Alright,” ey said, scratching out another quick note to emself. “I’ll figure out a way to ask if that’s where the observation came from.”</p>
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<p>“Oh? As in maybe Tycho noticed that and told Codrin#Artemis?”</p>
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<p>“Right, yeah. Maybe he picked up on it first because he’s had more time with her, or maybe her reaction to the skew tipped him off. Why knows?”</p>
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<p>Not a whole lot to add here on my part, and I need to get back to it momentarily, so just a quick note for now. There’s been some talk on biology and a bit more on astronomy. This always gets Tycho super excited, of course, so we have to space the topic out so that he and Stolon don’t completely monopolize the meeting.</p>
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<p>This morning we discussed the science of forking as it relates to time skew, but it was hard to keep the talk out of what should be your area up there.</p>
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<p>The most pertinent thing of late has been some discussion over language and how that has changed over time based on the physiology of the races. Iska spoke some “old Nanon” for us, which was beautiful, but almost uncanny. I’d keep almost catching words, but then they’d slip away from me again. Why Ask Questions understood better, and was able to ask some questions about linguistic evolution. Most of those went over my head, but she seemed surprised at how little things had changed over that long a time span, which got us on the topic of the history and politics of language. That was cut off since that’s your bailiwick up there, so I expect TN will be getting a note to that effect.</p>
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<p>Sarah requests that her counterpart reply with her thoughts on the Odists.</p>
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<p><strong>BĂLAN CLADE-EYES-ONLY MATERIAL</strong></p>
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<p>I hope things with the Odists are going as smoothly as possible. It sounds really stressful, particularly with how it’s affecting WAQ. You mentioned that Sarah’s been keeping an eye on it, but how about Tycho? I know he can get kind of skittish. He’s also been around those two longer than any of us, though, so maybe he’s got some insight into it.</p>
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<p>Codrin#Assist, pass on my love. Pull Dear’s tail for me.</p>
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</blockquote>
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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 2022-02-12</p>
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</header>
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<article class="content">
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<h1 id="tycho-brahecastor-2346">Tycho Brahe#Castor — 2346</h1>
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<div class="codehilite"><pre><span></span><code><span class="err">Convergence T-1 days, 3 hours, 55 minutes</span>
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<div class="codehilite"><pre><span></span><code><span class="err">Convergence T-2 days, 3 hours, 55 minutes</span>
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</code></pre></div>
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<p>“I would like to ask a few questions about forking versus skew,” Tycho said, when a lull between the two parties ran long enough that he felt comfortable doing so.</p>
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<p>“Here on our System, prior to some technological advancements, forking was limited by a reputation market,” True Name said. “I will leave the historical and sociological implications of this to the emissaries on Artemis, however, I can speak to the mechanical aspect of it.”</p>
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<p>Iska nodded. “I will compare with what I remember.”</p>
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<p>“I do not know whether any of you have explored the functionality, but forking is an act of intent. One projects the desire to fork and, when that intent is recognized by the System, the fork is created. Does that align with the mechanics of time skew?”</p>
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<p>Iska sat still and silent for a moment, and Tycho imagined a hidden frustration for them. While they’d been nothing but cordial throughout the visit so far, they had also stated plainly that they were uncomfortable with the lack of time skew and had refused the fork they were permitted in their rest area. He imagined that they’d like nothing more than to take their time coming up with the perfect response to this question in a fraction of a second, common time, but lacked the mechanism within the System.</p>
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<p>Iska sat still and silent for a moment, and Tycho imagined a hidden frustration within them. While they’d been nothing but cordial throughout the visit so far, they had also stated plainly that they were uncomfortable with the lack of time skew and had refused the fork they were permitted in their rest area. He imagined that they’d like nothing more than to take their time coming up with the perfect response to this question in a fraction of a second, common time, but lacked the mechanism within the System.</p>
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<p>“That aligns with our experience. I would not have used the words ‘intent’ and ‘project a desire’ prior to hearing them. I would have said that one ‘remembers’ being at a set skew. One remembers being or having been at skew plus one, and then one is. One remembers having been at common time, or perhaps remembers sliding down from skew plus one to common time, and one does so.” After a hesitation, they added, “But the concepts map almost exactly, so I will gladly accept ‘intent’ and ‘project a desire’ as terms.”</p>
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<p>Codrin spoke up next. “My counterpart on Artemis described in a note to me that “common time feels like a pin in a lock clicking into place as you move faster or slower”. I am assuming that this is what you mean when you say “one remembers having been at common time”?”</p>
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<p>Iska bared their teeth, a gesture that the delegates had agreed must be a sort of smile. “The common time consensus sensation is provided as an aid to all consciousness-bearing entities, yes. I am told that, when one first experiences skew, it can feel, <em>lu</em>…slippery, perhaps. It can be difficult to aim for a skew and remember that exactly, so one slides toward it and may overshoot. I am nearly five thousand years old, I have forgotten how it feels for skew to be slippery, but yes, that is why it exists.”</p>
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<p>The secondracer’s expression was what Tycho could only describe as startled. “That could lead to physical damage to one or both objects involved in the interaction.”</p>
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<p>He frowned. “Of course, that makes sense. I only ask because that functionality is available to us.”</p>
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<p>For the first time in the conversation, Artante spoke up. “This is veering into the territory designated for those aboard Artemis, but I will try to keep it grounded in the science and mechanics of our differences. Scientist Tycho Brahe, are there situations within your system that one might wish to cause physical damage to another?”</p>
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<p>True Name stiffened in her seat, but before she could reply, Tycho said, “Sure. There are combat sims and some forms of participatory art where danger of damage is considered part of of the experience.”</p>
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<p>True Name stiffened in her seat, but before she could reply, Tycho said, “Sure. There are combat sims and some forms of participatory art where risk of damage is considered part of of the experience.”</p>
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<p>“And one is often advised or required to send a fork to these, <em>anem?</em>“</p>
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<p>“Almost to a one, yeah.”</p>
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<p>Iska had been gripping the edge of the table tightly and finally seemed to cave to emotion and set up a cone of silence. He watched as, within, they said something that looked quite angry to Artante, who nodded calmly and said something in return. There was an angry retort, and then the same response from Artante.</p>
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<p>Both firstracers sat by impassively. They may have been talking, but there was no visible indication of such. Stolon, meanwhile, sat between the two, looking miserably uncomfortable.</p>
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<p>Both firstracers sat by impassively. They may have been talking, but there was no visible indication of such. Stolon, meanwhile, sat between the two, looking miserable.</p>
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<p>When the cone dropped once more, Artante continued. “In a system without forking, scientist Tycho Brahe, you must understand that there is no analogue to such. A system which could intentionally allow egregious harm to its occupants is unacceptable to us.”</p>
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<p>“Oh, right,” he said, frowning. The sight of True Name scribbling notes with alarming intensity distracted him, but he managed to say all the same, “Well, my apologies, I’d not put that together until we talked through it.”</p>
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<p>“Oh, right,” he said, frowning. The sight of True Name scribbling notes with alarming intensity distracted him, but he managed to say all the same, “My apologies, I’d not put that together until we talked through it.”</p>
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<p>Artante and Iska both bowed, though Iska’s was noticeably more curt.</p>
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<p>“We understand,” they said. “We have analogous experiential and participatory art using skew, but that is not for this meeting to discuss.”</p>
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<p>A cone of silence dropped over their side of the table and Codrin turned to True Name, asking, “May I ask what you were writing?”</p>
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<p>Tycho watched the exchange with mounting confusion before making note of yet another thing to ask Codrin about over break.</p>
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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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